The Chinese version of The Nutcracker by the National Ballet of China premiered in Beijing in 2000. A 3D animated version of it is set for release at the end of the year. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"With 3D, the audience will be able to feel the physicality of the dancers and see the beauty of ballet from a close distance. It's also a great medium for audiences who have never had the chance to watch a ballet performance in a theater," Feng says.

According to Tuo Zuhai, president of the China Animation Comic Game Group, historic Chinese sites will be added into the ballet piece, such as scenes of the Forbidden City and the resting place of the Terracotta Warriors.

Tuo adds that Ballerina, a French Canadian 3D animated musical film co-directed by Eric Summer and Eric Warin, which tells the story of an orphan girl who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, was screened in China in early 2017 and achieved a box-office gross of 40 million yuan.

"There are about 30 million students aged between 3 and 18 years old learning ballet in China. We did a survey to see if those students and their parents would be interested in a Chinese ballet-themed animated film and 90 percent of them responded positively," he says.