Chinese actor Jiang Wu attends the screening of "A Touch of Sin" during the 66th Cannes Film Festival. Photo provided to China Daily

A win for sin?

Chinese art-house film wins at the box office

"As short film gains online popularity in China, a new type of film production company, which focuses on making films to be shown online, has sprung up in the country," Jia says.

"These companies offer more opportunities for young filmmakers. However, they may at the same time drag down the overall quality of the film industry," he says.

"It's difficult for people working in these companies to develop their professionalism, as they may frequently change their jobs to adapt to the everchanging Internet."

The Internet is changing the ways of making and watching films in China: the audience can even participate from the beginning of film production－by making investments.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group launched the investment platform Yulebao on March 26, in which an individual could invest in movies and/or games starting from 100 yuan ($16). The first four projects－three feature films and one game－are expected to draw investments of 73 million yuan through Yulebao.