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Vista Group provides software solutions to Chinese cinemas via its JV Associate – Vista China. The software covers all operational aspects of running cinemas from Online and In-Cinema Ticketing, Mobile Applications, Food and Beverage, Staff Management, and Management Information systems. It is used by many major Chinese Cinema circuits.
We established business in China when, in 2005, a Hong Kong-based client of Vista informed us they were opening cinemas in China and wanted to continue to use our software.
We travelled to China and made a number of governmental visits with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and in late 2006 we gained certification from the Chinese government’s State Administration for Radio, Film and TV.
We were – and still are – the only foreign software certified for use in cinema ticketing in China.
Our original partnership with NZTE was extremely important and a special mention should go to Gouying Shen for establishing all the early government connections that got us underway.
In 2006 our business was established as a representative office with no staff based in China. By 2009, with a growing customer base in China, it was becoming difficult to provide the high level of customer service that we are accustomed to providing, so we established a small office that year.
Shortly after this we established our Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE) and operated like this until 2014, when we formed a joint venture with Weying – a Tencent company – which still exists to this day.
Sylvia Choi was our first leader in China. She helped to set the company up in China and won many of our early clients in the market. In 2013 Sylvia returned to New Zealand and Lawrence Wang took on Sylvia’s former role. Lawrence has become a well-known figure in the Chinese Cinema industry and along with his Vista role is now also Vice President of the Shanghai Film Distribution and Exhibition Association.
Our major milestones in China have included winning the business at large cinema circuits such as Lumiere, Dadi, JingYi and Red Star.