Huayi Brothers Media Corp. and Bona Film Group Ltd., two of China's largest film production companies, said Sunday they were each acquiring up to 20% of start-up distribution company China Lion Film Distribution, with the goal of introducing more of their films to the U.S. market. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

China Lion, a joint venture between Beijing-based President Jiang Yanming and Auckland-based Chief Executive Milt Barlow, currently has a deal with AMC Entertainment to distribute up to 15 Chinese movies annually in North America. The releases are often day-and-date with each film's Chinese release.

China Lion's first film under the deal was Huayi Bros's 'Aftershock,' a drama about the 1976 Tangshan earthquake in China. The film, which was directed by Feng Xiaogang, grossed over $100 million in China but only $62,962 in the U.S., according to the website boxofficemojo.com.

Chinese cinema is no different from American, British, French or other types of films, said Barlow in his opening remarks at a cocktail party in Santa Monica, Calif. where the deal was announced. He praised the rapid growth of the Chinese film industry over the past few years and said that China Lion would next be looking to expand into the other international markets, such as Europe and Australia.

Bona Film Group Chairman and Chief Executive Dong Yu added that he also thought the deal was a good opportunity to open Chinese films to the North American market and consequentlypromote Chinese culture abroad.

Greg Coote, who previously served as chairman and chief executive of Dune Entertainment, was also named chairman of China Lion as part of the announcement.