Abstract:  Since 1980s, along with Mainland China’s opening and reform, China’s film industry has prospered, though not without its twists and turns. The private film sector has achieved even greater growth and become an indispensible part of China’s film industry today both in terms of economic scales and industrial structure. Different from Hollywood which depends on a marketoriented system, the private film industry in Mainland China operates inside the political and economic structure of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Its growth in over 30 years is closely related with China’s macro policies and related industry policies. Under the influence of both capital and policy, the private film industry in mainland China has gone through four stages of development: before 1993the prereform stage; from 1993 to 2001icebreaking and development; from 2001 (after entering WTO) to recent yearsfast growth and current new capital era.

Key words:  film theory, private film, film industry, private film industry, national policies, industrial policies, industrial capital