Warner Brothers announced yesterday that it had entered into a strategic partnership with Sichuan's Pacific Cineplex to jointly develop the cinema market in southwest China, National Business Daily reports. Warner will open its first theater in Chongqing on 25 January with a second partner, the Shenzhen International Trust & Investment Company, and will open four additional theaters in Changsha, Shenzhen, Nanchang, and Zhengzhou with the company. Warner is looking to take advantage of the largely untapped base of moviegoers in China's south and southwest. Currently, 80% of China's box-office receipts come from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. Its new partner Pacific Cineplex has an interest in 42 theaters with a total of 116 screens that account for 5% of China's national box-office take. Link: http://www.nbd.com.cn/admin/module/news/newsFile/200612024511.htm