China approves 'Narnia' for spring run

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe will hit Chinese screens in early 2006, China's Film Bureau has decided.

The C.S. Lewis adaptation is the third Hollywood movie to be accepted for 2006 release in the country, after King Kong, to premiere on January 13, and Memoirs of a Geisha, to debut in February.

The Chinese government have strict quotas on the availability of foreign films, allowing only 40 to be exhibited each year in order to keep competition with domestic productions at a reasonable level.

However, the country's domestic fortunes have improved recently, with local films accounting for 55% of the market last year, The Guardian reports. The national box office enjoyed a 30% growth in 2005, bringing it to $250m.