From teaming with Spielberg to choosing which Hollywood releases end up in Chinese theaters, these five executives are chosen as the top power players at the forefront of China’s push into global entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter.

    Wang Jianlin

    CEO, Wanda Group

    Dalian Wanda Group, China’s preeminent real estate developer, is a brand known to nearly all Chinese for the massive Wanda Plaza commercial centers it has built in hundreds of prime locations throughout the country.

    For years, Wang Jianlin, the richest man in China with an estimated personal net worth of US$32.6 billion, has positioned himself at the forefront of China’s unprecedented push into the U.S. entertainment sector. After splashing out US$2.6 billion for the acquisition of North American theater chain AMC Entertainment in 2012, Wanda methodically has picked off acquisition targets at various links in the entertainment value chain — from movie houses to a US$3.5 billion deal for Burbank-based studio Legendary Entertainment to distribution, theme parks, digital marketing, merchandising and the pending US$1 billion acquisition of Dick Clark Productions — not to mention building the world’s largest film studio, for US$8.2 billion, on China’s northeast coast.

    He is now preparing to establish a new multibillion-dollar investment fund to pour capital into the film slates of all six major Hollywood studios.

    Jack Ma

    Founder and chairman, Alibaba Group

    The affable Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group long has been rumored as a suitor for a Hollywood studio, but as yet, the energetic 52-year-old has kept his powder dry on a prospective mega deal. From humble beginnings as an English teacher in Hangzhou, Ma, China’s second-richest man with a fortune estimated at US$28.3 billion, has built Alibaba into an Internet behemoth with multibillion-dollar businesses in Internet retail, online video, online auctions and now movies.

    Alibaba Pictures was built nearly from scratch in 2014, and Ma’s fledgling studio has invested in a slew of Hollywood tentpoles, including “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” and “Star Trek Beyond.” In September, Alibaba Pictures took a minority stake in Steven Spielberg’s “Amblin,” and the signing ceremony in Beijing saw Ma take the stage with the renowned director.

    On Nov. 1, Ma also unveiled a new US$1.48 billion fund to catalyze growth and kickstart expansion within its entertainment and digital media businesses.

    Ma Huateng

    Founder, Tencent Media

    Known affectionately in China as “Pony” Ma, the mild-mannered engineer-turned-billionaire, 45, heads one of the world’s leading Internet companies — ranked only behind Amazon, Google and Facebook, respectively, in revenue — which counts among its assets WeChat, China’s biggest messaging app with 806 million active users.

    Tencent has escalated its overseas ambitions with a slew of investments this year, including an US$8.6 billion acquisition of gaming giant Supercell, maker of “Clash of Clans”; a partnership with WME-IMG to create WME-IMG China; and minority investments in Bob Simonds’ STX and IM Global’s new television venture. Notoriously private and publicity-shy, Ma has an estimated fortune of US$24.4 billion, and he recently became one of China’s biggest philanthropists after gifting his charitable foundation US$2.15 billion.

    La Peikang

    Chairman, China Film Group

    From his lofty position as the head of the State-backed China Film Group (CFG), which handles the distribution of all imported Hollywood movies, La Peikang has been dubbed the most powerful man in the Chinese movie industry. As well as picking and choosing the Hollywood movies that get a coveted slot in the infamous quota, La slowly has transitioned CFG into a big-time movie investor, although so far with mixed results. For every hit CFG has invested in like “Furious 7,” there have been such turkeys as “Seventh Son” and “Pixels.” But La is pursuing ambitious production plans for China Film Co.: In July, the company said it plans to produce 53 movies and 14 television dramas as well as build 91 new theaters over the next three years.

    Li Ruigang

    CEO, China Media Capital

    A consummate dealmaker, Li Ruigang, 47, quietly has gone about making Shanghai-based China Media Capital (CMC) something of a gatekeeper to the China market. Often known as the “Rupert Murdoch of China,” Li is just as happy with headline-grabbing partnerships such as the Warner Bros. tie-up Flagship Entertainment as he is with taking minority stakes in Imax’s China business, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment and reviving Hong Kong’s storied Shaw Bros. A firm believer in investing in the future, Li has led CMC to invest early in a wide range of VR companies. He told THR that the “excessive pursuit of profit at the cost of quality of content” is the biggest threat facing the Chinese film industry. (SD-Agencies)