La Peikang (left), chairman of China Film Group, actress Ye Qing and French director JeanJacques Annaud.[Photo By Jiang Dong/China Daily]

"So five years is very young. It's a baby, but I had never seen a baby so mature, and he has the maturity of a very old Chinese wise man," Besson says at the opening ceremony, referring to the five-year-old festival.

Marco Solari, president of the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, tells China Daily that he has been impressed with the fast development of China's movie market and the number of local talented moviemakers.

"There are now more than 3,000 film festivals in the world. Their influence is not judged by how old they are. Though the Beijing International Film Festival is still young, it has already taken its place in the world," Solari says.

The president of the earliest and largest film festival in Switzerland predicts that it is "quite possible" for China to overtake the United States as the world's top box-office market in the coming years.