The Shanghai Film Corporation went public today in Shanghai, just one week after the debut of another entertainment giant, China Film. Why is the capital market attracting so many state-owned movie makers recently?

Shanghai Film's launch on the A-Share market raised 908 million yuan at a price of 10.19 yuan per share. The company's listed business includes film distribution, theatres, ticketing and film technology services. It is one of China's oldest movie makers, founded in 1921. Why go public now?

"After listing, our market competitiveness and distribution capability will be strengthened. The state-owned companies have said goodbye to historical problems and contradictions and have worked our way out of the difficulties. We now stand ready to start a new round of competition with other active film makers," said Ren Zhonglun, President of Shanghai Film Corporation.

One week before Shanghai Film went public, state-owned entertainment company Omnijoi Media, was listed on the ChiNext board. And one day after that, China Film made ITS debut on the main board. With dramatic increases in the size of China's movie market and increased competition from private companies like Wanda, the state-owned firms are struggling to survive.

"The competition in the industry is increasingly fierce. These movie makers have to attract professionals, buy copyrights, and the cost of making movies is also growing. In recent years, private companies have entered the movie market and that's been a huge shock to China Film and Shanghai Film. Shanghai Film's sales volume has increased but its market share has declined because the market itself is becoming more prosperous. Shanghai Film and China Film are entering the capital market to get the financing they need to compete with private firms," said Tang Zhehui, Partner of Ernst&Young.

In 2015, for example, Wanda theatres accounted for 13.8 percent of China's box office earnings, the most of any chain in the country, while Shanghai Film's theatres accounted for only 7 percent.Shanghai Film closed at 14.67 yuan today, up 44% from the opening price.