Nation's films rise as major force

Such films, known in China as "mainstream melody movies", feature adaptations based on real-life events and reflect the country's progress, achievements or revolutionary history.

In the past, movies of this type found it difficult to attract audiences due to their cliched depictions. However, the situation has changed in recent years thanks to blockbusters, which tell more human-interest stories and are studded with nail-biting action sequences and A-list stars.

My People, My Country and The Captain respectively grossed 3.12 billion yuan and 2.9 billion yuan and occupied the fourth- and fifth-highest grossing slots in last year's top 10 movie rankings.

Yin said younger Chinese filmmakers have shown their potential in telling excellent and in-depth stories, exemplified by Better Days, an unlikely youth movie that focuses on school bullying. The film earned 1.55 billion yuan ranked ninth in last year's rankings.

Despite not featuring in the top 10, some domestic films won both international and domestic acclaim last year.

Such works include So Long, My Son, which won best actor and best actress awards at the 2019 Berlin International Film Festival; and The Wild Goose Lake, the only Chinese-language film nominated at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.

While Chinese cinema is energetically diversifying genres and themes, Hollywood is seemingly becoming more conservative, mainly producing sequels or spinoffs of lucrative franchises.