Struggling to march on

Despite the initial honeymoon period for companies pairing with foreign counterparts, the future remains rocky.

"We still find it hard to make foreign audiences understand what's behind our films," Luan from the SARFT admits. "More co-produced films make it easier, but we need to have more say in it."

Luan is referring to the huge differences between Chinese film companies in terms of scale, experience, creativity and others.

According to the PKU report, these differences are what make Hollywood more hesitant when cooperating with some companies.

"Money is crucial, but that's just one part of the story," said Chen Shaofeng, the PKU professor who led the research. "A bigger international talent pool is also required as it's the basis of any cooperation between us and Hollywood."

As for the future, Yu Dong believed as Bona gets stronger with more money and talent, hard work will pay off and the foreign market will open further.

"I'll fly to Los Angeles more often in 2016, and hopefully our growing strength will play a big part," Yu said.

"Respect comes from the strength of our companies, which is even more significant than the cooperation itself," Chen added.