Imax expects to have 40 theaters in China by 2010 and wants to expand to 1,000 theaters worldwide, Co-Chief Executive Officer Richard Gelfond said.
The giant-screen chain has 16 theaters in China now and about 300 worldwide, said an official for the Ontario-based company. About 60 percent of Imax theaters are in North America, Bloomberg News said.
Imax announced joint ventures for digital-projection theaters in Australia and Japan in the past two weeks and plans to install 50 such systems by the end of the year, according to a company statement.
Imax shares rose 40 cents, or 5.4 percent, to US$7.76 at 4pm last Friday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, for the highest price in almost two years.
The shares have risen 18 percent over the past three days.
