China to suspend film imports

Chinese moviegoers may have to wait just a little longer for the latest installments of “Spider-Man,” “Shrek” and “Harry Potter.”

The new releases may be delayed as China suspends imports of foreign movies in July, film distributors say, apparently part of a campaign to protect the local film industry.

Despite the success of Chinese director Zhang Yimou and a handful of others, China’s homegrown movie industry has been starved of box-office revenues by the plethora of pirated DVDs that sell for as little as $1 each.