By the end of 2017, there were over 50,000 cinema screens in China, according to the annual report on the development of China's film and television industry.

The number of such screens in the country had already overtaken that of the US in 2016.

In February, the Chinese New Year holiday provided a strong impetus to the market. Four homegrown blockbusters were screening in theaters, resulting in fierce competition. The total box office pulled in more than 10 billion yuan that month, breaking the previous record held in the North American market and becoming the biggest in the world in the first quarter of this year.

By mid-June, the annual box office revenue in China has passed 30 billion yuan, and it is widely expected that by the end of 2018, it will reach 60 billion, a record-shattering number that makes China the world's top film market.

While these figures are encouraging to policymakers and great for making trade headlines, it would be a waste if people working in the film industry just treat them like a bonfire to dance around rather than looking closely at them and ask: What can those figures tell us and how should we react?

First of all, the US studio Tent-pole's (now mostly franchise) movies still have a strong impact on the Chinese market. They invest substantial marketing resources and often get significant returns.

Though we see a refreshing trend of more sophisticated movies being shown in China, such as Oscar winners Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and The Shape of Water, the majority of Chinese moviegoers still go for Hollywood blockbusters for the spectacle and grandeur.

Furthermore, we also see an impressive influx of movies from countries like India and Thailand, bringing diversity and decent box-office contributions. Chinese audiences greeted these foreign movies warmly and have begun to embrace them. Their successful entrance make their "followers" more acceptable to Chinese moviegoers and film market.

Despite the presence of the aforementioned two types of movies, Chinese movies still dominate the market in quantity and proportion of the box-office revenue. Naturally, local movies gain more support from the administrative and cultural levels.

Also, thanks to the much-subsidized tickets, as well as the wide and deep cinema network that have come into shape after years of movie production, different types of local movies are able to spread and penetrate the multi-layered local market spanning metropolises and small rural towns.

But challenges remain and big box offices are not guaranteed. The local audience is becoming savvier, so it is becoming harder to piece together a “phenomenal hit” just with star faces and heavy publicity on social media, both of which are getting increasingly expensive.

Existing players are getting more prudent and newcomers more sensible before jumping into the ring. Film companies and producers are required to be more financially efficient and professionally equipped in the filmmaking business.

Local titles mostly play ordinarily considering the amount released every year. But when some are well-received by the market, these films often demonstrate the following features: a balanced allocation of production resources, a story and characters that locals can identify with, solid storytelling skills and cinematic presentation. 

They do not have to be expensive or star-packed. If it has a genuine concept and can elicit authentic emotions, it may have longer “legs” and more potential to “travel.”

A single phenomenal movie can be very exciting and may jumpstart the industry infrastructure development process. However, what the local administration, industry people and especially mass audiences aspire to are a consistent flow of quality Chinese movies that make every party’s investment count.

An overall prosperity is what we all need.

The word “industrialization” keeps appearing during the talks and speeches at this year’s Shanghai Film Festival. It is never too late to mention but maybe a bit early to call ourselves so. The new Chinese film industry is still growing. Like a toddler, what it can do is largely decide by its physicality rather than willpower, though the latter is indispensable. The development of national cinema is bound to the development of the industry.

So maybe local administrators and filmmakers should be more patient and refrain from imitating the look of Hollywood standards, instead studying what those industry standards really are, and how we can create our own. The industry may soon experience a process of rationalization, and may even undergo an internal detox. But why not?

When the time is right, success will come.