MUMBAI: China-based Harvest Seven Stars Entertainment has tied up with the government of Tianjin city to build Chinawood, a $1.27 billion film and media hub that will be spread across a land admeasuring 8.6 million square feet.

The base is aimed at US and other foreign productions and will provide a hub for co-productions that are exempt from Chinese import quotas. Some 35 per cent of the investment is earmarked for film financing,said the group in a statement.

Among Chinawood‘s functions will be a co-production film financing platform, a co-production service centre with post facilities, a facility for 3D conversion and a distribution and marketing center.

Off late, Seven Stars Entertainment has been busy building a rapport with Hollywood having linked up with Jake Eberts and Justin Lin on projects already this year and launched $800 million private equityfund Harvest Seven Stars Media Fund in February.

Seven Stars Entertainment‘s Bruno Wu said, "It is crucial, as well as inevitable, that we offer the products and services to facilitate substantial cooperation between the two territories. This project is asignificant step towards closing that gap by providing expertise and facilities in all areas of financing, legal, co-production, distribution, marketing, sales and infrastructure."

Tianjin is a coastal city that takes around 30 minutes from Beijing by high-speed train. It has been growing in recent years by aggressively attracting high-tech industries to set up there.