China aspires to become a dominant power in the coming years and sees a great showcase for soft power in cinema, but propaganda and the Chinese market’s peculiarities sometimes prevent a greater international reception.The Chinese box office ousted that of the United States in 2020 thanks to better cinema attendances during the pandemic, although the greatest successes have been starred in productions aimed at a domestic audience.
Among them, the epic “Battle of Lake Changjin” – recounting the intervention of Chinese soldiers in the Korean War – is already the country’s highest grossing film in history after making 6 billion yuan (about $ 900 million).
Source: Chinese cinema, a domestic steamroller with limited int’l projection – La Prensa Latina Media