(Yicai Global) Nov. 23 -- Oriental Pearl Group, part of Chinese media giant Shanghai Media Group, has begun building a digital film and television production base in Shanghai that will have a special focus on advanced technologies such as ultra-high-definition video, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and the Internet of Things.

Covering an area of 190,000 square meters, the studio will be located in the city’s Lingang New Area, which offers preferential trade policies, and is expected to be completed by 2023. It will provide the digital hardware and software needed for virtual shooting and many top shows for SMG’s Dragon TV channel and streaming platform BesTV will be recorded here.

The production center will be part of the group’s Oriental Media City, also under construction. Boasting 10,000 virtual scene libraries and a 10-gigabyte-network digital engine, the smart media industry park is expected to have annual output of CNY20 billion (USD3.1 billion) when completed.

Editor: Kim Taylor