Diehard cinema fan

Shen Jian (right) has made friends with many Hollywood film-makers, such as James Cameron. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Shen also works as a consultant to several international companies, including Microsoft, Royal Philips, and US investment fund Silver Lake.

"When the international firms encounter problems or are confused, they look for help. My work in some sense is like writing a screenplay to guide them step by step," Shen says. "What I earn from consultancy is spent in movie production."

His connection with the rest of the world has given Shen's company rich resources to produce movies. So far, Shinework has signed production contracts with India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Indonesia. And, agreements with Egypt, Greece, Cuba and Pakistan are in the pipeline, he says.

His aim is more to enhance cultural exchanges among countries that are part of China's One Belt, One Road initiative that seeks to revive connections that existed along the ancient Silk Road.

One example can be seen in the coproduction with Kazakhstan, which is inspired from the last years of famous Chinese musician Xian Xinghai, who died in Kazakhstan at the age of 40.

Shen has realized his adolescent dream of exploring the world of cinema, but he also knows the responsibilities of helming a popular TV program like World Film Report.

"Cinema is a medium beyond language and ethnicity to record and pass down different cultures," he says.

In 2006, Shen participated as an unofficial member in discussions for the Alliance of Civilizations Final Report, initiated by Kofi Annan, then-UN secretary-general.

The report aims to "explore the roots of polarization between societies and cultures today, and to recommend a practical program of action to address this issue", according to the UNAOC website.