The Cinema of China is one of three distinct historical threads of Chinese-language cinema together with the Cinema of Hong Kong and the Cinema of Taiwan.

Cinema was introduced in China in 1896 and the first Chinese film, The Battle of Dingjunshan, was made in 1905, with the film industry being centered on Shanghai in the first decades. The first sound film, Sing-Song Girl Red Peony, using the sound-on-disc technology, was made in 1931. The 1930s, considered the first “golden period” of Chinese cinema, saw the advent of the Leftist cinematic movement and the dispute between Nationalists and Communists was reflected in the films produced. After the Japanese invasion of China and the occupation of Shanghai, the industry in the city was severely curtailed, with filmmakers moving to Hong Kong, Chongqing and other places, starting a “Solitary Island” period in Shanghai, referring to the city’s foreign concessions, with the remaining filmmakers working there. Princess Iron Fan (1941), the first Chinese animated feature film, was released at the end of this period. After being completely engulfed by the occupation in 1941, and until the end of the war in 1945, the film industry in the city was under Japanese control.

After the end of the war, a second golden age took place, with production in Shanghai resuming, with films such as Spring in a Small Town (1948), named the best Chinese-language film at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards. After the communist revolution in 1949, previous and some foreign films were banned in 1951, and movie attendance increased sharply. During the Cultural Revolution, the film industry was severely restricted, coming almost to a standstill from 1967 to 1972. The industry flourished following the end of the Cultural Revolution, including the “scar dramas” of the 1980s, such as Evening Rain (1980), Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1980) and Hibiscus Town (1986), depicting the emotional traumas left by the period. Starting in the mid to late 1980s, with films such as One and Eight (1983) and Yellow Earth (1984), the rise of the Fifth Generation brought increased popularity to Chinese cinema abroad, especially among Western arthouse audiences, with films like Red Sorghum (1987), The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) and Farewell My Concubine (1993) winning major international awards. The movement partially ended after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The post-1990 period saw the rise of the Sixth Generation and post-Sixth Generation, both mostly making films outside of the main Chinese film system and played mostly on the international film festival circuit.