Australian Government Official Turns Up on Chinese TV Promoting Film Project

It turns out Hollywood isn't the only one bending over backwards to appease the powers that be in China in order to grab a slice of the country's booming entertainment business. 

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Jay Weatherill, Premier of Southern Australia, popped up on Chinese TV on Thursday night, touting the Chinese-Australia co-production Gold Road, a project backed by the Australian Motion Picture Company and Shandong Film and TV Media Group.

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According to the news outlet Adelaide Now, which is based in the region of Australia Weatherill represents, the new project will have a budget of $15.4 million (15 million Australian dollars), and tells the story of Chinese acrobats who traveled and performed in the Australian bush during the country's gold rush in the 1800s. Australian director/producer Mario Andreacchio, who directed the first official Australia-China co-production The Dragon Pearl, is said to have developed the project. 

Weatherill chatted casually during the segment with popular Shandong News anchor Mao Xin, whose show reportedly reaches an audience of 100 million. 

"For the Chinese, cultural exchange and collaboration go hand in hand with economic exchange and collaboration," he said. "A true partnership must have an economic, political and cultural element."