Time Warner sees China regulations easing in 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Inc. (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive Richard Parsons said on Tuesday media regulations in China will likely ease in 2008, allowing the world's largest media company to become a bigger player in that market.

"We fully expect that environment to change in a positive direction over the next several years," Parsons told the Reuters Media Summit.

China's role as host of the 2008 Olympics will help accelerate those changes, as well as growing consumer demand for entertainment and information, he said.

"You can't keep the Web out, you can't keep these communications out," Parsons said. "Most of our stuff is there already, it's just pirated ... They see it, they want it. There's huge consumer demand."

He estimated nearly 1 billion DVDs are sold in China annually, but the vast majority of them are illegal copies.

Time Warner is home to the Warner Bros. movie studios and Internet division AOL.

Warner Bros. stepped back in November from a joint venture it led to build movie theaters in China as the government tightened restrictions on foreign control of companies there.

Parsons said AOL, while available to Internet users in China, has not built an aggressive presence there due to restrictions over the use of such terms as the word "democracy."