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- CGV Cinemas Resume Operations in China
- by Pierce Conran / Aug 04, 2020
- 21 Locations Reopen in 12 Cities Following 6 Months of Covid Closures
Following six months of closures in China owing to the spread of the 2019-nCoV virus, multiplexes have finally come back online. Among them is Korea’s CGV Cinemas, which runs a sizeable circuit of cinemas on the mainland. 21 venues in 12 cities, such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Chengdu, have resumed operations, according to CJ China Ltd., which operates under the CJ Group umbrella.“The local governments are permitting branches to resume after conducting quarantine surveys. All of our theaters are expected to normally operate within this week,” an official from CJ China reported earlier this week.CGV operates a total of 140 locations in 70 Chinese cities. Theater closures in China have reportedly cost the outfit in the region of KRW 70 billion (USD 58 million). The Chinese government first issued the order to close cinemas when the crisis began, just ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays, to help prevent a major spark of the virus as citizens returned to their hometowns for the holidays.Theaters briefly came back online in March before quickly being shut down again as the country grappled to contain new COVID-19 clusters.The CGV locations are among 376 theaters that reopened in 120 Chinese cities on Monday, July 20. Moviegoers must now wear face masks at all times, with all food and drink banned from auditoriums. At least one meter of space must be maintained between patrons who attend screenings separately. All tickets reservations must be done online and with real IDs. Furthermore, seating may not exceed 30% of capacity, while film running times have been capped at two hours.
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