CNN has a good article on the history and present state of film censorship in China. “Seventy years after the founding of the People’s Republic, topics covered by Chinese cinema have changed dramatically. But the level of control exercised by the Party is once again on the rise. Films are expected to promote ‘core socialist values,’ and are checked by censors multiple times during the filmmaking process, from the script stage to pre-release.” That films in China must be Communist Party approved has implications for the West as well, as Hollywood has at times bent to the will of Chinese censors and edited its own films in order to get access to the lucrative Chinese market.