Actress Michelle Yeoh (right) and actor Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow never dies. [File photo]

The appearance of Chinese actresses in the world's film factory began to change things a little bit.

With award-winning actress Gong Li starring in Miami Vice, and Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow never dies, more ethnically Chinese faces were introduced to the silver screen around the world. Actresses Zhang Ziyi, Fan Bingbing, Li Bingbing, Zhou Xun and Maggie Q have all starred in Western productions.

Alongside the actors，Chinese directors have also worked their way onto the international scene.

Chinese director Ang Lee won award for best director at the 85th Academy Awards. [Photo/Agencies]

Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, with many box office hits under his belt (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Life of Pi), is already a household name in Hollywood. Jason Woo has made a name for himself as an action film director with Hard Target, Face/Off and Mission Impossible: II. China's veteran director Zhang Yimou filmed The Flowers of War in 2011, and is working on a Sino-US co-production Great Wall.

Besides actors and directors, characters based on Chinese people are more prevalent in Western productions today. Chinese migrant workers contributed a great deal to making the boat in the film 2012. Although they were small characters in the film as a whole, they were crucial for the entire flow of the film.