Lu believed that those with opera or martial arts background find it easier to be accepted by foreign filmmakers and audiences.

Perhaps the best-known Chinese Kung-fu star was Bruce Lee, who is still the idol of many. Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu also impressed foreigners with their action performances.

More Chinese are joining them. Chinese faces even appeared in the Resident Evil, Transformers and X-Men series.

China is also investing heavily in the film industry overseas.

Last June, Chinese conglomerate Fosun International became shareholder of US media company Studio 8. In 2012, Dalian Wanda Group bought US cinema chain AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion. It has become world's largest cinema chain operator and has held talks with Lionsgate.

By the end of 2014, China has signed contracts with the governments of eleven countries, including France, Great Britain, Italy, South Korea, Spain, to make films together.

"Chinese people are becoming more and more passionate in filmmaking," said Katzenberg. Development of film industry has reached a gold period, he added.

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