HONG KONG (AP): China will release three U.S. films in March, a distributor said Friday, despite predictions the Communist country would prohibit Hollywood movies to protect the local industry.

The fantasy film ``The Golden Compass,'' action thriller ``National Treasure: Book of Secrets'' and adventure film ``10,000 BC'' will each get a ``national, wide'' release, said spokesman Weng Li at the state-run China Film Group, the nation's only licensed movie importer.

Hollywood film industry media reported in December that China had decided to ban U.S. films for three months, but officials denied the reports and cleared the Will Smith movie ``The Pursuit of Happyness'' for a limited release in January. The British-U.S. co-production ``The Water Horse'' got a wide release this month.

China has about 3,500 screens and its box-office revenues are small compared with those in the United States, but are growing rapidly.

China's film revenues surged 27 percent in 2007 to US$460 million (euro312 million), Zhang Pimin, deputy secretary-general of China's Film Bureau, said earlier.

The Chinese government allows only 20 foreign films a year if the studios want a percentage of what they earn in the country instead of selling distribution rights for a flat fee. Hollywood studios prefer the revenue-sharing model, which boosts their profits if the movie is a big hit.

Weng said ``The Golden Compass,'' ``National Treasure: Book of Secrets'' and ``10,000 BC'' will be imported as revenue-sharing movies. ``The Golden Compass'' is a U.S.-British co-production, and ``10,000 BC'' a U.S.-New Zealand co-production.

He said the films will be released in March and that imports of Hollywood films for April had not yet been decided.