CHINA: Warner Bros. International Television has entered into an agreement with two companies from China and a Hong Kong-based partner, Salon Films, for the joint development, production and distribution of a slate of 10 Mandarin language made-for-television movies.

The telefilms will each be a stand-alone story set in the Ching Dynasty (1644 -1911), but the 10 will have thematic continuity. Set against the rugged northwestern landscape of China's Yellow River basin, the stories will profile fictional heroes who use their unique fighting skills to right wrongs, while highlighting the central themes of loyalty, self-sacrifice and the heroes' struggles against the era's corrupt landlords and petty officials. Each episode will be designed to highlight one of the traditional Confucian virtues, such as compassion, loyalty and courage.

The project, which begins production in Ningxia Province later this month, has attracted some of China's most creative talents. Feng Xiaogang, China's most commercially successful film director (Party A, Party B, Be There or Be Square), will act as creative supervisor and executive producer, managing the overall creative concept and script development, and supervising a team of directors including Huang Jianxin The Black Cannon Incident and Zhang Jianya Crash Landing.