A new research and industrialisation hub for blending artificial intelligence with virtual film shooting was unveiled on 4 February in Deqing, Zhejiang. The “AI + Film Virtual Shooting Fusion Innovation Laboratory” is a joint initiative of the Zhejiang provincial film bureau and the China Film Science and Technology Research Institute. Its remit covers end-to-end work: domesticising key technologies, incubating pilot projects, building a full-process AI virtual-production platform, drafting industry standards and pursuing international exchanges.
The announcement positions the laboratory as a national benchmark intended to accelerate a transition to an “intelligent shooting” paradigm and to raise the technological quality of China’s film sector. Virtual production—the real-time fusion of live-action shooting with computer-generated environments—has become standard in big-budget filmmaking overseas, relying on LED volumes, game engines and advanced post-production pipelines. China’s lab aims to compress that stack into a domestically controllable architecture, from algorithms for AI-driven previsualisation and virtual actors to middleware for real-time compositing.
This project should be read in the context of two concurrent trends. First, global film-making is rapidly digitising: studios use real-time engines, machine learning and cloud services to shorten schedules and expand creative options. Second, Beijing has prioritised technological self-reliance, particularly in areas where foreign tools and standards dominate. By targeting key components for “国产化” (domestic production), the lab reflects a state-led effort to substitute foreign suppliers and to shape standards that favour Chinese vendors and regulatory expectations.
The industrial implications are tangible. A mature domestic virtual-production stack could lower the fixed costs of sophisticated effects, broadening access to smaller studios and enabling a faster, more iterative creative process. It could also foster new service exports—Chinese vendors supplying software, hardware and trained crews to regional markets. For incumbent visual-effects houses and freelancers, the shift promises new commercial opportunities but also disruption: roles in traditional post-production could be automated or relocated toward studios that adopt the new platform.
At the same time, the initiative raises governance and ethical questions. AI-assisted virtual production enables highly realistic synthetic performers and manipulated imagery, complicating issues of consent, copyright and misinformation. The state’s role in drafting industry standards and steering international cooperation will shape how these technologies are used and regulated. There is a trade-off: standards that facilitate domestic adoption and security may diverge from international norms, complicating cross-border collaboration.
The laboratory’s near-term priorities—pilot projects, platform prototyping and standards work—are pragmatic steps toward commercialisation. Success will hinge on forging industrial partners, attracting talent, and integrating the software and hardware layers into robust production workflows. If the lab produces interoperable tools and widely adopted standards, it could become a focal point for China’s attempt to translate digital-film know-how into cultural and economic leverage.
China’s experiment with an AI-driven virtual-production base is more than a local industrial initiative; it is a strategic move to shape the technological foundations of storytelling. Whether it becomes a global alternative to existing Western tools will depend on technical performance, openness to collaboration, and how regulators manage the ethical and intellectual-property issues that these systems inevitably raise.