Visual treat for nature lovers

Hidden Kingdoms under Open Skies is among the nature films screened at the ongoing Earthland Wildscreen Film Festival.

Recalling his years working in China Central Television, China's most influential broadcaster, in the 1990s, he says a generation of Chinese learned about nature from Zhao Zhongxiang's program Animal World, which has aired since 1981.

But few of the viewers would know that most of the content was bought from abroad, especially from the United Kingdom, says Xi, 52.

Speaking about the ongoing festival, Xi hopes the event, introduced by him and the Beijing-based firm Earthland, will boost interest in nature films and help wildlife photography in the country.

China is now the world's second-largest movie market, boasting an output of 600 movies and raking in 44.1 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) in 2015, but it makes very few films on nature.

This is possibly because tracking animals and photographing them takes a lot of time when compared with dramas, and also because financiers are generally not interested in programs offering low returns.

"It has always been difficult to find investors," says Xi, who is regarded as one of China's most famous wildlife photographers.