Shanghai is the birthplace of Chinese film. Being the most early-opened and the most prosperous industrial and commercial city in China, Shanghai has provided tremendous convenience for the development of films. In 1896, the first show of “Western motion pictures” in China took place in Shanghai; in 1913, the first short Chinese feature film was accomplished in Shanghai; and in 1921, the first full-length Chinese feature film was born in Shanghai. Since then, film began to develop rapidly in Shanghai, and the realistic tradition and the ethos of Chinese film were gradually shaped.

　　In a brief decade after the establishment of New China, Shanghai Film Studio, Shanghai Documentary Film Studio, Shanghai Animation Film Studio and Shanghai Dubbing Studio were established in succession. Shanghai film entered its first fruitful period. Talented film artists from all over the country gathered in Shanghai; excellent films emerged one after another, producing a profound and wide influence. Shanghai became an important base of Chinese film and “held up half the sky”, as the Chinese idiom says.

　　Since 1980s, influenced by the market economy, Shanghai film has begun to undergo the process of grouping and industrialization. After times of organizational adjustment and integrating the preponderant multiple resources of film development, production, distribution and so on in recent years, Shanghai Film Group Corporation has been inaugurated and commenced its formal operation. It is now striving for the goal of a modern enterprise group with mixed ownerships. We are confident that in the near future, film will be a landmark in Shanghai’s cultural industries, and Shanghai will become an important production base for Chinese films from home and abroad.

　　Opening-up promotes innovation; and cooperation promotes development. We warmly welcome colleagues from home and abroad to come for communication and discussion. And we sincerely hope to join hands and cooperate with friends from all over the world to make a contribution for China films.

　　REN Zhonglun

　　President