Sino-South Korean joint production Bad Sister. The two countries signed a film-coproduction agreement to promote closer bilateral ties in July.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Fan cites as an example the Korean blockbuster My Way (2011), a melodrama about a friendship strained by World War II. Fan reveals the producer originally planned to cooperate with Chinese film companies. But China's film authorities vetoed the idea, and in the end only Chinese actress Fan Bingbing was involved.

Chinese-Korean film fest to focus on youth

Pop culture saves cinema

Yet, not all is lost.

Shen Tingzhao, vice-president of Pegasus & Taihe Ubiquitous International, China's major distributor of South Korean films, has confirmed that The Admiral: Roaring Currents will soon be introduced to Chinese cinemas.

The epic on the Battle of Myeongnyang, the Korean navy's triumph against the Japanese invasion in 1597, premiered in July and attracted 17 million viewers in South Korea, becoming the highest-grossing film in that country's history with box-office revenues of more than $100 million.

Shen says that the film was only a beginning. Preparation for a sequel—based on the Battle of Noryang in 1598, when Sino-Korean naval forces fought the Japanese military—has started, and the new installment will be co-produced by China and South Korea.

"It's almost impossible for a co-produced film to have equally successful box-office results in both countries since the audiences are different," she says.

Profit can't always be the main motivation for cooperation. There's scope for bilateral productions to reach many people while building on shared skills and experiences.