CJ CGV, one of South Korea's largest multi-screen cinema chains, opened its 50th theater in China Wednesday, 10 years after it made a foray into the fast-growing Chinese market, the company said.
  

A new CGV theater with 10 screens, including an IMAX, opened its doors to the public at a large shopping mall in Foshan, Guangdong Province, making it the 50th such theater in China.
  

Including the new facility, CGV currently operates 50 chain theaters with 401 screens in 28 cities around the country.
  

CGV aims to earn some 210 billion won ($177 million) in the Chinese market this year, almost double the 115 billion won it earned from 38 theaters last year.
  

In the second quarter of this year, the company recorded its first quarterly surplus in the country. Its yearly number of viewers stood at 5.35 million in 2012 but is expected to easily surpass 20 million this year as 11.47 million people have already visited its chain theaters to see films.
  

The company forecast that this year and next year will be an important turning point for its business in China with an aim of increasing its total number of theaters to 64 this year and more than 80 next year. The number can exceed South Korea's 83 at some point.
  

"We'll move fast toward the goal of becoming the fifth-largest cinema chain in China next year, dominating the market in advance," Seo Jung, chief executive officer of CJ CGV, said. "We'll advance to other parts of the world such as Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam over China." (Yonhap)