The Chinese government is seeking to promote the country's soft power internationally through cinema as China becomes the world's second-largest economy. China's current censorship rules, which feature a dual-track censoring mechanism for films circulated on different channels, and a double standard for foreign and independent films in comparison with domestic and official productions, have become an obstacle for creativity. Whilst this dual-track and complex censorship mechanism can help release tension under the government's media control and offer market protection for domestic films, it will not help with Chinese cinema's ‘go abroad’ strategy. As economic globalization and new media technology constitute effective forces in opening up and diversifying China's film market, Chinese cinema will present more varieties of film despite the government's rigid censorship control. It is this pluralism that would boost creativity and help expand China's cultural influence through cinema around the world.
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Yuxing Zhou (2015) studied this question.