Lucky Film Corporation has long been one of China’s significant manufacturers of photographic film.
Lucky’s predecessor is the No. 1 Film Factory of the Ministry of Chemical Industry. It was founded on July 1, 1958 and has its headquarters in the city of Baoding. The project had national significance at that time and and was one of the key projects in the country.
Lucky first started its business in the early 1960s to late 1970s. Gradually, photographic films were produced for the first time for the local market. But it also produced photographic paper or material for film production.
From the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, business boomed. Lucky films were a popular choice for photographers in China. They were also gaining market share outside of the Asian country. At that time, of course, foreign markets were heavily dominated by Fujifilm of Japan and Kodak of the United States.
Lucky was positioned by the Chinese government as a national champion and therefore took an important role in becoming an economic power. Working against this, however, was technological progress.
In 2003, Lucky entered into a 20-year agreement with Eastman Kodak. The subject of this agreement was that Kodak would invest US$ 45 million in Lucky along with a color film production line and related technologies. In return, Kodak received 20% of the shares in Lucky. Kodak also promised to invest US$55 million along with support technology.
Kodak wanted to strengthen its position in the Chinese market. After four years, the contract was terminated by Kodak and the shares were bought back. The reason was the decline of film photography and the spread of digital cameras.
In 2012, it was announced by Lucky Film Co, Ltd, the film division of Lucky Group, that they would stop color film production.
Later, some company divisions of Lucky Group were acquired by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
