Online filmmakers and rising stars attend the film week's closing ceremony on Oct 25, 2019. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A lack of professionals

Meeting press on Wednesday, Yang Xianghua pointed out the industry has a shortage of good stories and experienced screenwriters.

Yin Chao, founder of online film production company Tmeng Pictures, said: "At the very beginning, a majority of online filmmakers were movie fans or advertising directors, instead of those with professional film study backgrounds. They were not optimistic about the industry, so they did not join. Now more and more of them are willing to shoot online movies, which was unimaginable in previous years."

During the film week, Chinese video streaming giants iQiyi, Youku and Tencent jointly released a statement appealing for expert film workers to support and invest in online movies so as to improve the industry's artistic standards. The companies also called for a shift from quantity to quality production and stricter approval criteria.