Rooms fashioned after the ancient Chinese imperial style inside the Sphinx replica are used for films and TV series. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Production studios spring up across China

The New Great Wall International Studio is both a production base for films, TV series, animations and games and a tourism hot spot.

The base, which is under further construction, has produced six TV series and is open to the public, said Su Yaran, a spokesperson for the base.

It will expand to 206.67 hectares next year and has a total investment of 5 billion yuan ($774 million). The company, of the same name as the studio, also has a similar park in Chuzhou, Anhui province, and plans to construct four other parks across the nation.

Since 1987, when China's first large-scale movie and TV shooting base was built, production bases and parks for TV and film have emerged around the country. There are now thousands of the bases nationwide, according to a People's Daily report.

"That's because China is making more and more films and TV series," said a film director surnamed Yang from Tianjin.

According to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, China produces the world's highest number of TV series, with 429 TV series and 15,983 episodes last year. That is an average of about 44 episodes made every day throughout the year. Each episode usually lasts 45 minutes.