The country's movie box office receipts is expected to reach $5.5 billion by 2017, and overtake the United States,with the Internet playing a big role.

In two years' time, China's domestic film box office will surpass that of the United States, and become the largest in the world. That forecast has encouraged many investors hoping to ride the wave and make money.

The anticipation is expected to bring revolutionary changes not only to China's entertainment industry, but to the rest of the world.

The growth of China's film market will impact the whole world, according to Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX Corporation. The company, with presence in 65 countries all over the world, now has more than 170 screens in China.

As China's middle class continues to grow, the country's film market still has great potential, said Gelfond, as only 11 of these IMAX screens in China are located in first-tier cities. The challenge will be how much to penetrate that market, he said during the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF).

The fast evolution in digital technology will also give China a chance to become the industry leader of film and entertainment, Gelfond said. While Hollywood still has the advantage of its talent pool, mature infrastructure and so on, China will be able to create studios of the future, with cutting edge technologies and digital evolution.

With its great market prosperity, China has the potential to leverage its enormous domestic box office to influence the global outlook of the industry, he said. As the box office revenue grows rapidly, qualities of films will consequently rise, because cost of productions will grow, and China's filmmakers will not only be competitive within the domestic market, but also with Hollywood, he said.

To appeal to specific groups of audiences, it often doesn't work to hire actors of a particular country, said Marc Shmuger, a film and entertainment industry executive for more than 30 years. Schmuger has long held senior positions at Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures and he was in Shanghai for the SIFF.

"But there is good opportunity that great collaboration will take place, where Hollywood storytelling comes together with Chinese subjects to create good films," he said.

Kungfu Panda III could be an example in that direction. The franchise has gained great success in the global market. The first two installments grossed a total of $1.3 billion at the box office worldwide, with a production budget of $280 million.

The third episode was produced by Oriental Dreamworks, a joint venture between Dreamworks Animation of the US and Chinese investors. This will be the first feature film production from the new studio, which is located in Shanghai, located on the west bank of the Huangpu River.