China’s Bona Film Group has secured a $13m (RMB80m) credit facility from Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, which it will use to fund expansion of its multiplex business.

“We are pleased to add Shanghai Pudong Development Bank to the group of first-rate financial institutions who have partnered with Bona in our pursuit to become China’s largest non-state owned film producer, distributor and exhibitor,” said Bona Film Group founder and chairman Yu Dong.

“Our theatre business has been a strong contributor to Bona’s success in 2013, and it is a key component to the longer term growth strategy of the company.”

Bona Film Group will operate a total of 21 theatres with 173 screens by the end of 2013 and has seven new theatres under construction. The company expects to open four to five new theatres in the first half of 2014.

Upcoming Bona productions include Derek Yee’s crime thriller Overheard 3, Jacob Cheung’s 3D martial arts epic The White-Haired Witch and crime drama Sunspot, directed by Cao Baoping. In August, the company announced the launch of a $163.4m (RMB1bn) film fund in partnership with Sequoia Captial Management and Noah Holdings to finance production of film and TV projects over the next two years.

In September, Bona Film Group announced that Fosun Group had acquired a 6.4% stake in the company. 21st Century Fox acquired a 20% stake in the company last year.

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