Trade war: Hollywood hopes for a seat in China's $8.6 bn box office

Hollywood's push for greater access to China's booming film market - delayed since last year - has become tangled in broader trade talks between Washington and Beijing, a potentially thorny position amid whipsawing trade relations.

Negotiations to raise a Chinese quota on imported films and boost the share that overseas producers get of box office takings are now being discussed within the broader framework of a US-China trade stand-off, four industry sources said.

The shift from earlier talks is a double-edged sword for US producers looking at China's $8.6 billion cinema market. It could be bad news if broader talks go sour, but it could offer a potential path forward if the two countries find common ground.

"It wouldn't really hit the domestic movie business much whether we bring in more foreign movies or not," said Yu Jianhong, vice president of Beijing Film Academy. "This should be something both parties can agree on."

China's quota system allows 34 imported movies a year to be shown in theatres, while overseas producers get a 25 percent share of box office takings - less than in other international markets. Since 2016 a handful more have been allowed in via a "cultural exchange" channel.

Carmaker Nissan making short-term reduction volumes in Britain: Source

Nissan will cut hundreds of jobs at its Sunderland plant, Britain's biggest automotive factory, as it tackles declining demand for diesel models across Europe, a source told Reuters on Friday.

Nissan builds its Qashqai and Juke models at the northeastern English site and the company's sales in Britain, Europe's second-largest car market, have fallen 35 percent so far this year, worse than overall demand in the sector, which is down 12 percent.

Jaguar Land Rover is cutting around 1,000 jobs and output at two of its factories after a fall in sales which the industry has partly blamed on confusion over government diesel policy, with a tax hike having come into force this month.

Nissan said it is discussing the operational changes with its employees.

Xi confidant Liu He emerges as front runner to head China's central bank

Liu He, a Harvard-trained economist who is a trusted confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping, has emerged as the front runner to be the next governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), according to three sources with knowledge of the situation.

Liu may be in a position to become one of China's most powerful economic and financial officials ever, as he is already top adviser to Xi on economic policy and is also expected to become vice premier overseeing the economy.

Liu would replace current PBOC chief, 70-year-old Zhou Xiaochuan, who is China's longest-running head of the central bank, having taken the job in 2002. Zhou is expected to retire around the time of the annual session of parliament in March, sources previously told Reuters.