Cinema of China

Filmmaking industry of China

This article is about cinema of the People's Republic of China. For cinema of the Republic of China, see Cinema of Taiwan.

"Chinese Cinema" redirects here. For the book, see Chinese Cinema: Culture and Politics since 1949.

Cinema of China

No. of screens| 86,300 (2024)[1]
• Per capita| 2.98 per 100,000 (2016)
Main distributors| China Film (32.8%)
Huaxia (22.89%)
Enlight (7.75%)[2]
Produced feature films (2016)[3]
Fictional| 772
Animated| 49
Documentary| 32
Number of admissions (2016)[4]
Total| 1,370,000,000
• Per capita| 1[4]
Gross box office (2024)[5]
Total| CN¥42.5 billion (US$5.81 billion)
National films| 78.7%

The cinema of China is the filmmaking and film industry of mainland China, one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the cinema of Hong Kong and the cinema of Taiwan. China is the home of the largest movie and drama production complex and film studios in the world, the Oriental Movie Metropolis[6][7] and Hengdian World Studios. In 2012 the country became the second-largest market in the world by box office receipts behind only the United States. In 2016, the gross box office in China was CN¥45.71 billion (US$6.58 billion). China has also become a major hub of business for Hollywood studios.

In November 2016, China passed a film law banning content deemed harmful to the "dignity, honor and interests" of the People's Republic and encouraging the promotion of core socialist values, approved by the National People's Congress Standing Committee.[8]

## History

[edit]

Main article: History of cinema of China

### Beginnings

[edit]

1926 Tianyi film Lady Meng Jiang, starring Hu Die

Motion pictures were introduced to China in 1896. They were introduced through foreign film exhibitors in treaty ports like Shanghai and Hong Kong.[9]: 68

China was one of the earliest countries to be exposed to the medium of film, due to Louis Lumière sending his cameraman to Shanghai a year after inventing cinematography.[10] The first recorded screening of a motion picture in China took place in Shanghai on 11 August 1896 as an "act" on a variety bill.[11] The first Chinese film, a recording of the Peking opera, Dingjun Mountain, was made in November 1905 in Beijing.[12] For the next decade the production companies were mainly foreign-owned, and the domestic film industry was centered on Shanghai, a thriving entrepot and the largest city in the Far East.[13]

### Main melody dramas

[edit]

During the late 20th century, a period when socialist dramas were beginning to lose viewership, the Chinese government began to involve itself deeper into the world of popular culture and cinema by creating the official genre of the "main melody" (主旋律 zhǔxuánlǜ), inspired by Hollywood's strides in musical dramas.[14] In 1987, the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television issued a statement encouraging the making of movies which emphasizes the main melody to "invigorate national spirit and national pride".[15] The expression main melody refers to the musical term leitmotif, which translates to the 'theme of our times', which scholars suggest is representative of China's socio-political climate and cultural context of popular cinema.[16] These main melody films, still produced regularly in modern times, try to emulate the commercial mainstream by the use of Hollywood-style music and special effects. A significant feature of these films is the incorporation of a "red song", which is a song written as propaganda to support the People's Republic of China.[17] By revolving the film around the motif of a red song, the film is able to gain traction at the box office as songs are generally thought to be more accessible than a film. Theoretically, once the red song dominates the charts, it will stir interest in the film that which it accompanies.[18]

Main melody dramas are often subsidized by the state and have free access to government and military personnel.[19] The Chinese government spends between "one and two million RMBs" annually to support the production of films in the main melody genre. August First Film Studio, the film and TV production arm of the People's Liberation Army, is a studio that produces main melody cinema. Main melody films, which often depict past military engagements or are biopics of first-generation CCP leaders, have won several Best Picture prizes at the Golden Rooster Awards.[20] Some of the more famous main melody dramas include the ten-hour epic Decisive Engagement (大决战, 1991), directed by Cai Jiawei, Yang Guangyuan and Wei Lian; The Opium War (1997), directed by Xie Jin; and The Founding of a Republic (2009), directed by Han Sanping and Fifth Generation director Huang Jianxin.[21] The Founding of an Army (2017) was commissioned by the government to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army, and is the third instalment in The Founding of a Republic series.[22] The film featured many young Chinese pop singers that are already well-established in the industry, including Li Yifeng, Liu Haoran, and Lay Zhang, so as to further the film's reputation as a main melody drama.

### The sixth generation

[edit]

> When faced with the complexity of real society, their hands and feet quiver, and they deliriously shoot a bunch of childish fairy tales

— The sixth generation director Jia Zhangke's accusation of China's older filmmakers in an essay.[23]

The post-1990 era has been labeled the "return of the amateur filmmaker" as state censorship policies after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests produced an edgy underground film movement loosely referred to as the Sixth Generation. Owing to the lack of state funding and backing, these films were shot quickly and cheaply, using materials like 16 mm film and digital video and mostly non-professional actors and actresses, producing a documentary feel, often with long takes, hand-held cameras, and ambient sound; more akin to Italian neorealism and cinéma vérité than the often lush, far more considered productions of the Fifth Generation.[24] Unlike the Fifth Generation, the Sixth Generation brings a more individualistic, anti-romantic life-view and pays far closer attention to contemporary urban life, especially as affected by disorientation, rebellion[25] and dissatisfaction with China's contemporary social marketing economic tensions and comprehensive cultural background.[26] Many were made with an extremely low budget (an example is Jia Zhangke, who shoots on digital video, and formerly on 16 mm; Wang Xiaoshuai's The Days (1993) was made for US$10,000[26]). The title and subjects of many of these films reflect the Sixth Generation's concerns. The Sixth Generation takes an interest in marginalized individuals and the less represented fringes of society. For example, Zhang Yuan's hand-held Beijing Bastards (1993) focuses on youth punk subculture, featuring artists like Cui Jian, Dou Wei and He Yong frowned upon by many state authorities,[27] while Jia Zhangke's debut film Xiao Wu (1997) concerns a provincial pickpocket. While many Fifth Generation filmmakers have become darlings of mainstream Chinese culture, Sixth Generation filmmakers have often experienced harsh treatment by the state's censorship and regulatory system, despite their success at international film festivals and arthouse markets.[28]

As the Sixth Generation gained international exposure, many subsequent movies were joint ventures and projects with international backers, but remained quite resolutely low-key and low budget. Jia's Platform (2000) was funded in part by Takeshi Kitano's production house,[29] while his Still Life was shot on HD video. Still Life was a surprise addition and Golden Lion winner of the 2006 Venice International Film Festival. Still Life, which concerns provincial workers around the Three Gorges region, sharply contrasts with the works of Fifth Generation Chinese directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige who were at the time producing House of Flying Daggers (2004) and The Promise (2005). It featured no star of international renown and was acted mostly by non-professionals.

Many Sixth Generation films have highlighted the negative attributes of China's entry into the modern capitalist market. Li Yang's Blind Shaft (2003) for example, is an account of two murderous con-men in the unregulated and notoriously dangerous mining industry of northern China.[30] (Li refused the tag of Sixth Generation, although admitted he was not Fifth Generation).[25] While Jia Zhangke's The World (2004) emphasizes the emptiness of globalization in the backdrop of an internationally themed amusement park.[31]

Some of the more prolific Sixth Generation directors to have emerged are Wang Xiaoshuai (The Days, Beijing Bicycle, So Long, My Son), Zhang Yuan (Beijing Bastards, East Palace West Palace), Jia Zhangke (Xiao Wu, Unknown Pleasures, Platform, The World, A Touch of Sin, Mountains May Depart, Ash Is Purest White), He Jianjun (Postman) and Lou Ye (Suzhou River, Summer Palace). One director of their generation who does not share most of the concerns of the Sixth Generation is Lu Chuan (Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, 2004; City of Life and Death, 2010).

#### Notable Sixth Generation directors

[edit]

In the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, two of China's Sixth generation filmmakers, Jia Zhangke and Zhang Ming – whose grim works transformed Chinese cinema in the 1990s – showed on the French Riviera. While both directors represent Chinese cinema, their profiles are quite different. The 49-year-old Jia set up the Pingyao International Film Festival in 2017 and on the other hand is Zhang, a 56-year-old film school professor who spent years working on government commissions and domestic TV shows after struggling with his own projects. Despite their different profiles, they mark an important cornerstone in Chinese cinema and are both credited with bringing Chinese movies to the international big screen. Chinese director Jia Zhangke's latest film Ash Is Purest White has been selected to compete in the official competition for the Palme d'Or of the 71st Cannes Film Festival, the highest prize awarded at the film festival. It is Jia's fifth movie, a gangster revenge drama that is his most expensive and mainstream film to date. Back in 2013, Jia won Best Screenplay Award for A Touch of Sin, following nominations for Unknown Pleasures in 2002 and 24 City in 2008. In 2014, he was a member of the official jury and the following year his film Mountains May Depart was nominated. According to entertainment website Variety, a record number of Chinese films were submitted this year but only Jia's romantic drama was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or. Meanwhile, Zhang will make his debut at Cannes with The Pluto Moment, a slow-moving relationship drama about a team of filmmakers scouting for locations and musical talent in China's rural hinterland. The film is Zhang's highest profile production so far, as it stars actor Wang Xuebing in the leading role. The film was partly financed by iQiyi, the company behind one of China's most popular online video browsing sharing sites.[32] Diao Yinan is also a notable member of the sixth generation whose works include Black Coal Thin Ice, Wild Goose Lake, Night Train and Uniform which have premiered at festivals such as Cannes and received acclaim abroad.[33]

## Other directors

[edit]

He Ping is a director of mostly Western-like films set in Chinese locale. His Swordsmen in Double Flag Town (1991) and Sun Valley (1995) explore narratives set in the sparse terrain of West China near the Gobi Desert. His historical drama Red Firecracker, Green Firecracker (1994) won a myriad of prizes home and abroad.

Recent cinema has seen Chinese cinematographers direct some acclaimed films. Other than Zhang Yimou, Lü Yue made Mr. Zhao (1998), a black comedy film well received abroad. Gu Changwei's minimalist epic Peacock (2005), about a quiet, ordinary Chinese family with three very different siblings in the post-Cultural Revolution era, took home the Silver Bear prize for 2005 Berlin International Film Festival. Hou Yong is another cinematographer who made films (Jasmine Women, 2004) and TV series. There are actors who straddle the dual roles of acting and directing. Xu Jinglei, a popular Chinese actress, has made six movies to date. Her second film Letter from an Unknown Woman (2004) landed her the San Sebastián International Film Festival Best Director award. Another popular actress and director is Zhao Wei, whose directorial debut So Young (2013) was a huge box office and critical success.

The most highly regarded Chinese actor-director is undoubtedly Jiang Wen, who has directed several critically acclaimed movies while following on his acting career. His directorial debut, In the Heat of the Sun (1994) was the first PRC film to win Best Picture at the Golden Horse Film Awards held in Taiwan. His other films, like Devils on the Doorstep (2000, Cannes Grand Prix) and Let the Bullets Fly (2010), were similarly well received. By the early 2011, Let the Bullets Fly had become the highest grossing domestic film in China's history.[34][35]

## Generation-independent movement

[edit]

There is a growing number of independent seventh or post-Sixth Generation filmmakers making films with extremely low budgets and using digital equipment. They are the so-called dGeneration (for digital).[36] These films, like those from Sixth Generation filmmakers, are mostly made outside the Chinese film system and are shown mostly on the international film festival circuit. Ying Liang and Jian Yi are two of these generation filmmakers. Ying's Taking Father Home (2005) and The Other Half (2006) are both representative of the generation trends of the feature film. Liu Jiayin made two dGeneration feature films, Oxhide (2004) and Oxhide II (2010), blurring the line between documentary and narrative film. Oxhide, made by Liu when she was a film student, frames herself and her parents in their claustrophobic Beijing apartment in a narrative praised by critics. An Elephant Sitting Still, considered one of the greatest film debuts in Chinese cinema, is also the only film by the late Hu Bo.[37]

## New documentary movement

[edit]

Two decades of reform and commercialization have brought dramatic social changes in mainland China, reflected not only in fiction film but in a growing documentary movement. Wu Wenguang's 70-minute Bumming in Beijing: The Last Dreamers (1990) is now seen as one of the first works of this "New Documentary Movement" (NDM) in China.[38][39] Bumming, made between 1988 and 1990, contains interviews with five young artists eking out a living in Beijing, subject to state authorized tasks. Shot using a camcorder, the documentary ends with four of the artists moving abroad after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.[40] Dance with the Farm Workers (2001) is another documentary by Wu.[41]

Another internationally acclaimed documentary is Wang Bing's nine-hour tale of deindustrialization Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2003). Wang's subsequent documentaries, He Fengming (2007), Crude Oil (2008), Man with no name (2009), Three Sisters (2012) and Feng ai (2013), cemented his reputation as a leading documentarist of the movement.[42]

Li Hong, the first woman in the NDM, in Out of Phoenix Bridge (1997) relates the story of four young women, who moving from rural areas to the big cities like millions of other men and women, have come to Beijing to make a living.

The New Documentary Movement in recent times has overlapped with the dGeneration filmmaking, with most documentaries being shot cheaply and independently in the digital format. Xu Xin's Karamay (2010), Zhao Liang's Behemoth, Huang Weikai's Disorder (2009), Zhao Dayong's Ghost Town (2009), Du Haibing's 1428 (2009), Xu Tong's Fortune Teller (2009) and Li Ning's Tape (2010) were all shot in digital format. All had made their impact in the international documentary scene and the use of digital format allows for works of vaster lengths.

## Animation

[edit]

Main articles: Chinese animation and History of Chinese animation

### Before the 1950s

[edit]

Inspired by the success of Disney animation, the self-taught pioneers Wan brothers, Wan Laiming and Wan Guchan, made the first Chinese animated short in the 1920s, thus inaugurating the history of Chinese animation. (Chen Yuanyuan 175)[43] Many live-action films of the Republican era also included animated sequences.[44]

In 1937, the Wan brothers decided to produce 《铁扇公主》 Princess Iron Fan, which was the first Chinese animated feature film and the fourth, after the American feature films Snow White, Gulliver's Travels, and The Adventures of Pinocchio. It was at this time that Chinese animation as an art form had risen to prominence on the world stage. Completed in 1941, the film was released under China United Pictures and aroused a great response in Asia. Japanese animator Osamu Tezuka once said that he gave up medicine after watching the cartoon and decided to pursue animation.[citation needed]

### 1950s–1980s

[edit]

During this golden era, Chinese animation had developed a variety of styles, including ink animation, shadow play animation, puppet animation, and so on. Some of the most representative works are 《大闹天宫》 Havoc in Heaven, 《哪吒闹海》 Nezha's Rebellion in the Sea and《天书奇谈》 Heavenly Book, which have also won lofty praise and numerous awards in the world.[citation needed]

### 1980s–1990s

[edit]

After Deng Xiaoping's Reform Period and the "opening up" of China, the movies《葫芦兄弟》 Calabash Brothers, 《黑猫警长》Black Cat Sheriff, 《阿凡提》Avanti Story and other impressive animated movies were released. However, at this time, China still favored the Japanese's more unique, American and European-influenced animated works over the less-advanced domestic ones.[citation needed]

### 1990s–2010s

[edit]

In the 1990s, digital production methods replaced manual hand-drawing methods; however, even with the use of advanced technology, none of the animated works were considered to be a breakthrough film. Animated films that tried to cater to all age groups, such as Lotus Lantern and Storm Resolution, did not attract much attention. The only animated works that seemed to achieve popularity were the ones for catered for children, such as Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf《喜羊羊与灰太狼》.

### 2010s–present

[edit]

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During this period, the technical level of Chinese domestic animation production has been established comprehensively, and 3D animation films have become the mainstream. However, as more and more foreign films (such as ones from Japan, Europe, and the United States) are being imported into China, Chinese animated works is left in the shadows of these animated foreign films.

It was only with the release of 《西游记之大圣归来》Monkey King: Hero Is Back in 2015, a computer-animated film, that Chinese animated works took back the rein. The film was a huge hit and broke the record for Chinese domestic animated movies with CN¥956 million at China's box office. After the success of Journey to the West, several other high-quality animated films were released, such as《大鱼海棠》 Big Fish and Begonia and 《白蛇缘起》 White Snake. Though none of these movies made headway in regards to the box office, they did make filmmakers more and more interested in animated works.

This all changed with the breakthrough animated film, 《哪吒之魔童降世》Ne Zha. Released in 2019, it became the second highest-grossing film of all time in China, the highest-grossing animated non-English film, and the highest-grossing animated film in a single territory. It was with this film that Chinese animated films, as a medium, finally broke the notion in China that domestic animated films are only for children. With Nezha, and a spinoff, Jiang Ziya, Chinese animation has now come to be known as a veritable source of entertainment for all ages.

## New models and the new Chinese cinema

[edit]

### Commercial successes

[edit]

With China's liberalization in the late 1970s and its opening up to foreign markets, commercial considerations have made its impact in post-1980s filmmaking. Traditionally arthouse movies screened seldom make enough to break even. An example is Fifth Generation director Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Horse Thief (1986), a narrative film with minimal dialog on a Tibetan horse thief. The film, showcasing exotic landscapes, was well received by Chinese and some Western arthouse audiences, but did poorly at the box office.[45] Tian's later The Warrior and the Wolf (2010) was a similar commercial failure.[46]

Prior to these, there were examples of successful commercial films in the post-liberalization period. One was the romance film Romance on the Lu Mountain (1980), which was a success with older Chinese. The film broke the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running film on a first run. Jet Li's cinematic debut Shaolin Temple (1982) was an instant hit at home and abroad (in Japan and the Southeast Asia, for example).[47] Another successful commercial film was Murder in 405  [zh] (405谋杀案, 1980), a murder thriller.[48] Feng Xiaogang's The Dream Factory (1997) was heralded as a turning point in Chinese movie industry, a hesui pian (Chinese New Year-screened film) which demonstrated the viability of the commercial model in China's socialist market economy. Feng has become one of the most successful commercial director in the post-1997 era. Almost all his films made high returns domestically[49] while he used ethnic Chinese co-stars like Rosamund Kwan, Jacqueline Wu, Rene Liu and Shu Qi to boost his films' appeal. In the decade following 2010, owing to the influx of Hollywood films (though the number screened each year is curtailed), Chinese domestic cinema faces mounting challenges. The industry is growing and domestic films are starting to achieve the box office impact of major Hollywood blockbusters. However, not all domestic films are successful financially. In January 2010 James Cameron's Avatar was pulled out from non-3D theaters for Hu Mei's biopic Confucius, but this move led to a backlash on Hu's film.[50] Zhang Yang's 2005 Sunflower also made little money, but his earlier, low-budget Spicy Love Soup (1997) grossed ten times its budget of ¥3 million.[51] Likewise, the 2006 Crazy Stone, a sleeper hit, was made for just 3 million HKD/US$400,000. In 2009–11, Feng's Aftershock (2009) and Jiang Wen's Let the Bullets Fly (2010) became China's highest grossing domestic films, with Aftershock earning ¥670 million (US$105 million)[52] and Let the Bullets Fly ¥674 million (US$110 million).[53] Lost in Thailand (2012) became the first Chinese film to reach ¥1 billion at the Chinese box office and Monster Hunt (2015) became the first to reach CN¥2 billion.

As of 2021, 9 of the top 10 highest-grossing films in China are domestic productions. On 8 February 2016, the Chinese box office set a new single-day gross record, with CN¥660 million, beating the previous record of CN¥425 million on 18 July 2015.[54] Also in February 2016, The Mermaid, directed by Stephen Chow, became the highest-grossing film in China, overtaking Monster Hunt.[55] It is also the first film to reach CN¥3 billion.[56]

Under the influence of Hollywood science fiction movies like Prometheus, published on 8 June 2012, such genres especially the space science films have risen rapidly in the Chinese film market in recent years. On 5 February 2019, the film The Wandering Earth directed by Frant Gwo reached $699.8 million worldwide, which became the third highest-grossing film in the history of Chinese cinema.

### Chinese international cinema and successes abroad

[edit]

Director Jia Zhangke at the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival in Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan, 22 July 2005 Huang Xiaoming, a Chinese actor, singer, and model

Since the late 1980s and progressively in the 2000s, Chinese films have enjoyed considerable box office success abroad. Formerly viewed only by cineastes, its global appeal mounted after the international box office and critical success of Ang Lee's period wuxia film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which won Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000. This multi-national production increased its appeal by featuring stars from all parts of the Chinese-speaking world. It provided an introduction to Chinese cinema (and especially the wuxia genre) for many and increased the popularity of many earlier Chinese films. To date Crouching Tiger remains the most commercially successful foreign-language film in U.S. history.

In 2002, Zhang Yimou's Hero was another international box office success.[57] Its cast featured famous actors from mainland China and Hong Kong who were also known to some extent in the West, including Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. Despite criticisms by some that these two films pander somewhat to Western tastes, Hero was a phenomenal success in most of Asia and topped the U.S. box office for two weeks, making enough in the U.S. alone to cover the production costs.

Other films such as Farewell My Concubine, 2046, Suzhou River, The Road Home and House of Flying Daggers were critically acclaimed around the world. The Hengdian World Studios can be seen as the "Chinese Hollywood", with a total area of up to 330 ha. and 13 shooting bases, including a 1:1 copy of the Forbidden City.

Jiang Qinqin at Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2016

The successes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero make it difficult to demarcate the boundary between "Mainland Chinese" cinema and a more international-based "Chinese-language cinema". Crouching Tiger, for example, was directed by a Taiwan-born American director (Ang Lee) who works often in Hollywood. Its pan-Chinese leads include mainland Chinese (Zhang Ziyi), Hong Kong (Chow Yun-Fat), Taiwan (Chang Chen) and Malaysian (Michelle Yeoh) actors and actresses; the film was co-produced by an array of Chinese, American, Hong Kong, and Taiwan film companies. Likewise, Lee's Chinese-language Lust, Caution (2007) drew a crew and cast from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and includes an orchestral score by French composer Alexandre Desplat. This merging of people, resources and expertise from the three regions and the broader East Asia and the world, marks the movement of Chinese-language cinema into a domain of large scale international influence. Other examples of films in this mold include The Promise (2005), The Banquet (2006), Fearless (2006), The Warlords (2007), Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) and Red Cliff (2008–09). The ease with which ethnic Chinese actresses and actors straddle the mainland and Hong Kong has significantly increased the number of co-productions in Chinese-language cinema. Many of these films also feature South Korean or Japanese actors to appeal to their East Asian neighbours. Some artistes originating from the mainland, like Hu Jun, Zhang Ziyi, Tang Wei and Zhou Xun, obtained Hong Kong residency under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme and have acted in many Hong Kong productions.[58]

## Industry

[edit]

### Box office and screens

[edit]

In 1983, there were 162,000 projection units in China, up from less than 600 at the 1949 founding of the PRC.[59]: 1

In 1998, the Ministry of Culture revived the practice of mobile rural cinema as part of its 2131 Project which aimed to screen one movie per month per village in rural China and upgrade analog equipment to digital projectors.[59]: 246  In 2003, the central government provided more than 400 film projection vans to Tibet and Xinjiang to show films in an effort to oppose what the government viewed as separatism and Westernization.[59]: 249

In 2010, Chinese cinema was the third largest film industry by number of feature films produced annually.[60] In 2013, China's gross box office was ¥21.8 billion (US$3.6 billion), the second-largest film market in the world by box office receipts.[61] In January 2013, Lost in Thailand (2012) became the first Chinese film to reach ¥1 billion at the box office.[62] As of May 2013, 7 of the top 10 highest-grossing films in China were domestic productions.[63] As of 2014, around half of all tickets are sold online, with the largest ticket selling sites being Maoyan.com (82 million), Gewara.com (45 million) and Wepiao.com (28 million).[64] In 2014, Chinese films earned ¥1.87 billion outside China.[65] By December 2013 there were 17,000 screens in the country.[66] By 6 January 2014, there were 18,195 screens in the country.[61] Greater China has around 251 IMAX theaters.[67] There were 299 cinema chains (252 rural, 47 urban), 5,813 movie theaters and 24,317 screens in the country in 2014.[2]

The country added about 8,035 screens in 2015 (at an average of 22 new screens per day, increasing its total by about 40% to around 31,627 screens, which is about 7,373 shy of the number of screens in the United States.[68][69] Chinese films accounted for 61.48% of ticket sales in 2015 (up from 54% last year) with more than 60% of ticket sales being made online. Average ticket price was down about 2.5% to $5.36 in 2015.[68] It also witnessed 51.08% increase in admissions, with 1.26 billion people buying tickets to the cinema in 2015.[69] Chinese films grossed US$427 million overseas in 2015.[70] During the week of the 2016 Chinese New Year, the country set a new record for the highest box office gross during one week in one territory with US$548 million, overtaking the previous record of US$529.6 million of 26 December 2015 to 1 January 2016 in the United States and Canada.[71] Chinese films grossed CN¥3.83 billion (US$550 million) in foreign markets in 2016.[3]

In 2020, China's market for films surpassed the U.S. market to become the largest such market in the world.[72]: 16

Year | Gross
(in billions of
yuans) | Domestic
share | Tickets sold
(in millions) | Number of
screens

|
|
|
|

2003 | less than 1[73] |  |  |
2004 | 1.5[74] |  |  |
2005 | 2[74] | 60%[75] | 157.2[76][77] | 4,425[78]
2006 | 2.67[74] |  | 176.2[76][77] | 3,034[79] or 4,753[78]
2007 | 3.33[74] | 55%[75] | 195.8[76][77] | 3,527[79] or 5,630[78]
2008 | 4.34[74] | 61%[75] | 209.8[76][77] | 4,097[79] or 5,722[78]
2009 | 6.21[74] | 56%[2] | 263.8[76][77] | 4,723[79] or 6,323[78]
2010 | 10.17[74] | 56%[2] | 290[76] | 6,256[79] or 7,831[78]
2011 | 13.12[74] | 54%[2] | 370[76] | 9,286[79]
2012 | 17.07[74] | 48.5%[80] | 462[81] |
2013 | 21.77[74] | 59%[82] | 612[81] | 18,195[61]
2014 | 29.6[83] | 55%[83] | 830[83] | 23,600[83]
2015 | 44[84] | 61.6%[84] | 1,260[84] | 31,627[84]
2016 | 45.71[3] | 58.33%[3] | 1,370[4] | 41,179[3]
2017  | 55.9[85] | 53.8%[85] | 1,620[85] | 50,776
2018  | 60.98[86] | 62.2%[87] | 1720[88] | 60,000[89]
2019  | 64.27[90] | 64.1%[90] |  | 69,787[90]
2020  | 20.42[91] | 83.7%[91] |  | 75,581[91]
2021  | 47.26[92] | 84.5%[92] |  | 82,248[92]
2022  | 30.07[93] | 84.9%[93] |  |
2023  | 54.92[94] | 83.8%[94] |  | 86,310[95]
2024  | 42.50[5] | 78.7%[5] |  | 90,968[96]

### Film companies

[edit]

As of April 2015, the largest Chinese film company by worth was Alibaba Pictures (US$8.77 billion). Other large companies include Huayi Brothers Media (US$7.9 billion), Enlight Media (US$5.98 billion) and Bona Film Group (US$542 million).[97] The biggest distributors by market share in 2014 were: China Film Group (32.8%), Huaxia Film (22.89%), Enlight Pictures (7.75%), Bona Film Group (5.99%), Wanda Media (5.2%), Le Vision Pictures (4.1%), Huayi Brothers (2.26%), United Exhibitor Partners (2%), Heng Ye Film Distribution (1.77%) and Beijing Anshi Yingna Entertainment (1.52%).[2] The biggest cinema chains in 2014 by box office gross were: Wanda Cinema Line (US$676.96 million), China Film Stellar (393.35 million), Dadi Theater Circuit (378.17 million), Shanghai United Circuit (355.07 million), Guangzhou Jinyi Zhujiang (335.39 million), China Film South Cinema Circuit (318.71 million), Zhejiang Time Cinema (190.53 million), China Film Group Digital Cinema Line (177.42 million), Hengdian Cinema Line (170.15 million) and Beijing New Film Association (163.09 million).[2]

#### Notable independent (non-state-owned) film companies

[edit]

Huayi Brothers is China's most powerful independent (i.e., non state-owned) entertainment company, Beijing-based Huayi Brothers is a diversified company engaged in film and TV production, distribution, theatrical exhibition, as well as talent management. Notable films include 2004's Kung Fu Hustle; and 2010's Aftershock, which had a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[98]

Beijing Enlight Media focuses on the action and romance genres. Enlight usually places several films in China's top 20 grossers. Enlight is also a major player in China's TV series production and distribution businesses. Under the leadership of its CEO Wang Changtian, the publicly traded, Beijing-based company has achieved a market capitalization of nearly US$1 billion.[99]

### Law

[edit]

Since 2017, the industry is regulated by the Film Industry Promotion Act.[100][101]

## See also

[edit]

* Cinema of Asia
* East Asian cinema
* Chinese animation
* Chinese art
* Kung Fu film
* Movie Town Haikou
* Oriental Movie Metropolis
* August First Film Studio
* Chinese cinema in Nigeria

### Lists

[edit]

* List of Chinese actors
* List of Chinese actresses
* List of Chinese directors
* List of Chinese films
* List of Chinese film production companies (pre-PRC)
* List of highest-grossing films in China
* List of film production companies by country#China
* List of highest-grossing non-English films

## Notes

[edit]

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

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### Sources

[edit]

* Bordwell, David; Thompson, Kristin (2010). Film history: an introduction (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. ISBN 978-0-07-338613-3.
* Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, ed. (1997). The Oxford history of world cinema (Paperback ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-874242-5.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Carlo Celli. "China's Confucian, Misogynistic Nationalism" National Identity in Global Cinema: How Movies Explain the World. Palgrave MacMillan 2013, 1–22.
* Rey Chow, Primitive Passions: Visuality, Sexuality, Ethnography, and Contemporary Chinese Cinema, Columbia University Press 1995.
* Cheng, Jim, Annotated Bibliography For Chinese Film Studies, Hong Kong University Press 2004.
* Shuqin Cui, Women Through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema, University of Hawaii Press 2003.
* Dai Jinhua, Cinema and Desire: Feminist Marxism and Cultural Politics in the Work of Dai Jinhua, eds. Jing Wang and Tani E. Barlow. London: Verso 2002.
* Rolf Giesen (2015). Chinese Animation: A History and Filmography, 1922-2012. Illustrated by Bryn Barnard. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1552-3. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
* Hu, Lindan (2017). "Rescuing female desire from revolutionary history: Chinese women's cinema in the 1980s". Asian Journal of Women's Studies. 23 (1): 49–65\. doi:10.1080/12259276.2017.1279890. S2CID 218771001.
* Harry H. Kuoshu, Celluloid China: Cinematic Encounters with Culture and Society, Southern Illinois University Press 2002 - introduction, discusses 15 films at length.
* Jay Leyda, Dianying, MIT Press, 1972.
* Laikwan Pang, Building a New China in Cinema: The Chinese Left-Wing Cinema Movement, 1932–1937, Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc 2002.
* Quiquemelle, Marie-Claire; Passek, Jean-Loup, eds. (1985). Le Cinéma chinois. Paris: Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou. ISBN 978-2-85850-263-9. OCLC 11965661.
* Rea, Christopher. Chinese Film Classics, 1922–1949. New York: Columbia University Press, 2021. ISBN 9780231188135
* Seio Nakajima. 2016. "The genesis, structure and transformation of the contemporary Chinese cinematic field: Global linkages and national refractions." Global Media and Communication Volume 12, Number 1, pp 85–108. [1]
* Zhen Ni, Chris Berry, Memoirs From The Beijing Film Academy, Duke University Press 2002.
* Semsel, George, ed. "Chinese Film: The State of the Art in the People's Republic", Praeger, 1987.
* Semsel, George, Xia Hong, and Hou Jianping, eds. Chinese Film Theory: A Guide to the New Era, Praeger, 1990.
* Semsel, George, Chen Xihe, and Xia Hong, eds. Film in Contemporary China: Critical Debates, 1979–1989", Praeger, 1993.
* Gary G. Xu, Sinascape: Contemporary Chinese Cinema, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
* Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh and Darrell William Davis. 2008. "Re-nationalizing China's film industry: case study on the China Film Group and film marketization." Journal of Chinese Cinemas Volume 2, Issue 1, pp 37–51. [2]
* Yingjin Zhang (Author), Zhiwei Xiao (Author, Editor), Encyclopedia of Chinese Film, Routledge, 1998.
* Yingjin Zhang, ed., Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai, 1922–1943, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999.
* Yingjin Zhang, Chinese National Cinema (National Cinemas Series.), Routledge 2004 - general introduction.
* Ying Zhu, "Chinese Cinema during the Era of Reform: the Ingenuity of the System", Westport, CT: Praeger, 2003.
* Ying Zhu, "Art, Politics and Commerce in Chinese Cinema", co-edited with Stanley Rosen, Hong Kong University Press, 2010
* Ying Zhu and Seio Nakajima, "The Evolution of Chinese Film as an Industry," pp. 17–33 in Stanley Rosen and Ying Zhu, eds., Art, Politics and Commerce in Chinese Cinema, Hong Kong University Press, 2010. [3]
* Wang, Lingzhen. Chinese Women's Cinema: Transnational Contexts. Columbia University Press, 13 August 2013. ISBN 0-231-52744-6, 9780231527446.

## External links

[edit]

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* Chinese Film Classics \- a website hosted at the University of British Columbia with over 30 early Chinese films with English subtitles, an online course on early Chinese cinema, and other resources
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* Warring States

Imperial|

* Qin
* Han
* Three Kingdoms
* Wei
* Han
* Wu
* Jin (266–420)
* Sixteen Kingdoms
* Northern and Southern dynasties
* Sui
* Tang
* Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
* Liao
* Song
* Jin (1115–1234)
* Yuan
* Ming
* Qing
* High Qing
* Century of humiliation
* Taiping Rebellion
* Eunuch

Modern|

* 1911 Revolution
* Republic of China
* Chinese Civil War
* Chinese Communist Revolution
* People's Republic of China
* Cultural Revolution
* Reform and opening up
* Tiananmen Square
* COVID-19
* persecution of Uyghurs
* List of massacres in China

Geography|

* Borders
* Extreme points
* Geology
* Natural disasters

| Regions|

* East
* Northeast
* North
* South Central
* Central
* South
* Western
* Northwestern
* Southwestern

|

Terrain|

* Bays
* Canyons
* Caves
* Deserts
* Grasslands
* Hills
* Islands
* Mountains
* ranges
* passes
* Peninsulas
* Northeast / North / Central Plains
* Valleys
* Volcanoes

Water|

* Canals
* Lakes
* Rivers
* Waterfalls
* Wetlands
* Water resources
* Seas
* Bohai
* Yellow
* East China
* South China

Environment|

* Climate change
* Climate policy
* Environmental issues
* Environmental policy
* Protected areas
* National parks
* Nature reserves
* UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
* Wildlife
* Fauna
* Flora

Subdivisions|

* Baseline islands
* Border crossings
* Cities
* Province-level subdivisions

Politics|

| Law|

* Judicial system
* Human rights
* LGBT
* in Tibet
* Law enforcement
* Penal system
* Naming laws
* Nationality law
* Terrorism

|

Government|

* Civil service
* Constitution
* Democracy
* Pro-democratisation
* Elections
* Environmental policy
* Foreign relations
* Laogai
* National People's Congress
* Standing Committee
* National security
* Political parties and movements
* Chinese Communist Party
* General Secretary
* Politburo
* Democratic parties (China)
* United front
* Political Consultative Conference
* System of multi-party cooperation and political consultation
* Socialism with Chinese characteristics
* Primary stage of socialism
* President
* Vice President
* State Council
* Premier
* Vice Premier
* Whole-process people's democracy
* One country, two systems

Military|

* Outline of military history
* Central Military Commission
* Cyberwarfare and China
* Ministry of National Defense
* People's Liberation Army
* Ground
* Navy
* Air
* Rocket
* Strategic Support
* People's Armed Police
* Coast Guard
* Militia
* Maritime Militia

Economy|

* Agriculture
* Aquaculture
* Banking
* Central bank
* Chinese property sector crisis (2020–present)
* Currency
* Economic history
* Reform and opening up
* Special economic zones
* E-commerce
* Online advertising
* Economic inequality in China
* Energy
* Coal
* Petroleum
* Renewable
* Forced evictions
* Foreign aid received
* Foreign aid program
* Historical GDP
* Housing
* Income inequality in China
* Industry
* Chemical
* Gold mining
* Semiconductors
* Steel
* Textiles
* Labor relations
* Poverty
* Real estate
* Standard of living
* Taxation
* Tourism
* Trade
* Underoccupied developments
* Unemployment

Infrastructure|

* Architecture
* Housing
* Telecommunications
* Internet
* Water supply and sanitation

Transport|

* Automotive industry
* Civil aviation
* Rail
* Shipping industry
* Space program

Society|

* Abortion
* Censorship
* Chinese Dream
* Chinese language
* Standard Chinese
* Written Chinese
* Crime
* Corruption
* Prostitution
* Sex trafficking
* Education
* Literacy
* Freedom of the press
* Harmonious Society
* Health
* Food safety
* incidents
* HIV/AIDS
* Intellectualism
* Internment camps
* Martyrdom
* Surveillance
* Propaganda
* Protest
* ”Mass incidents”
* Public holidays
* Rural society
* Science and technology
* history
* Sexuality
* Social issues
* Patriarchy
* Racism
* Regional discrimination
* Suicide
* Social relations
* Structure
* Tang ping
* Time
* Urban society
* Welfare

Culture|

* Archaeology
* Archives
* Art
* Calligraphy
* Cinema
* Cuisine
* Dance
* Libraries
* Literature
* Poetry
* Martial arts
* Mass media
* Music
* Names
* Philosophy
* Smoking
* Sport
* Tea culture
* Variety art
* Major Historical and Cultural Sites
* World Heritage Sites

| Fours of China|

* Four Treasures of the Study
* Four Great Inventions
* Four Gentlemen
* Flowers of the Four Seasons
* Four Beauties
* Four Classic Novels
* Four arts
* Four Symbols
* Four Holy Beasts
* Four Pillars of Destiny
* Four Paragons of the Early Tang
* Four Masters of the Ming dynasty
* Four Masters of the Yuan dynasty
* Four Wangs
* Gang of Four
* Four Olds
* Four Pests campaign

|

Demographics|

* Emigration
* Ethnic groups
* Eunuchs
* Internal migration
* Languages
* Life expectancy
* Statistics
* Population history
* "Post-80s"
* "Post-90s"
* Urbanization
* Women

Religion|

* Buddhism
* Chinese Buddhism
* Tibetan Buddhism
* Confucianism
* Folk religion
* Christianity
* Catholic Church in China
* Protestantism
* Freedom of religion
* History of religion
* Irreligion
* Islam
* Taoism

Symbols|

* Anthem
* Emblem
* Flag

* Outline
* Index

* Category
* Portal

* v
* t
* e

Cinema of Asia

Sovereign states|

* Afghanistan
* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Bahrain
* Bangladesh
* Bhutan
* Brunei
* Cambodia
* China
* Cyprus
* Egypt
* Georgia
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Israel
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kazakhstan
* North Korea
* South Korea
* Kuwait
* Kyrgyzstan
* Laos
* Lebanon
* Malaysia
* Maldives
* Mongolia
* Myanmar
* Nepal
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Philippines
* Qatar
* Russia
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* Sri Lanka
* Syria
* Tajikistan
* Thailand
* Timor-Leste (East Timor)
* Turkey
* Turkmenistan
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan
* Vietnam
* Yemen

States with
limited recognition|

* Abkhazia
* Northern Cyprus
* Palestine
* South Ossetia
* Taiwan

Dependencies and
other territories|

* British Indian Ocean Territory
* Christmas Island
* Cocos (Keeling) Islands
* Hong Kong
* Macau

* Category
* Asia portal

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