Poster of Spring Tide. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The idea of "online movies", widely referring to those screened on the internet instead of cinemas, first emerged in China in 2014, with works broadcasting on China's Netflix-like services iQiyi, Tencent Video and Alibaba's Youku.

For a long time, Chinese online movies were mostly cheaply made comedies, eye-catching monk zombie movies and fantasy dramas, until more realistic themes emerged in 2018.

Talking about the rise of youth power in China's online movie industry, Wang Rui, head of the Directing School of Beijing Film Academy - a leading Chinese film school, said, "After graduating from a film school, it often takes a long time for our studens to find opportunities to make cinema-line movies. There are relatively fewer opportunities for young directors. Online movies come as good opportunities for them to start with."

But he added many of his students were hesitant to join the industry because of low investments. "I was told before that the investment for an online movie was only some 2 million yuan ($305,000). If the investment could rise, I believe it will draw a lot of talented young directors to join in."