Despite the ongoing turmoil in China’s entertainment industry, a select group of actors managed to overcome the crisis and achieve outstanding results during 2025. Among the biggest names of the year are Yang Mi, Xin Zhilei, Song Jia, Jackson Yee, Liu Haoran and Xiao Zhan. Their success spans international film recognition, national television breakthroughs and record-breaking box office performances.
Xin Zhilei: the most unexpected and definitive success of 2025
The most surprising and revolutionary achievement of the year belongs to Xin Zhilei.
Her historic win as Best Actress at the Venice International Film Festival reshaped the hierarchy of China’s acting landscape. China had gone years without international “Best Actress” recognition, while many stars born in the 1980s were often criticized for lacking the acting depth required for major film awards. Meanwhile, the once-dominant generation of “Four Dan Actresses” (Zhou Xun, Zhao Wei, Zhang Ziyi, Xu Jinglei) and the “Fan Bingbing + Shu Qi + Tang Wei” group had moved in different career directions.
After her win in Venice, Xin Zhilei was immediately ranked as the leading actress of the 1980s generation, surpassing household names such as Liu Yifei, Zhao Liying and Yang Mi, who have yet to secure a major international film award. National award-winning actresses such as Zhang Xiaofei are also now positioned behind her.
It is therefore no exaggeration to call Xin Zhilei the brightest figure in Chinese entertainment in 2025.
Song Jia: Dominating domestic cinema and television
While Xin Zhilei excelled internationally, Song Jia became the most acclaimed actress domestically. In 2025, he starred in two productions with a rating above 9.0 on Douban, a rare achievement in recent years. On television, she won the award for Best Actress (Queen of TV). She and her girlsovercoming strong contenders such as Ma Yili, Yan Ni, Yang Zi and Liu Yifei.
Song Jia also won her second Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress for the film The good things. Although her win sparked debate, many media outlets, including QQ, noted that both Song Jia and Ni Ni delivered award-worthy performances, with Song Jia simply “have a slight advantage.”
After a difficult 2024 during which three of her dramas failed in a single month, Yang Mi was believed to be past her prime. With six consecutive years without a major hit project, his career seemed to be stalling.
However, 2025 marked an impressive return. Its iQIYI series This flourishing land it topped the platform ratings and online engagement rankings, earning the title “Artist of the Year”. In the film, his roles in It has no name AND The Litchi Road received praise for the freshness and marked improvement in acting technique.
This resurgence has significantly strengthened her reputation, leading to 14 new endorsement deals in 2025, including becoming a global ambassador for luxury fashion brand Prada.
Jackson Yee: youngest Golden Rooster, best actor
For male actors, Jackson Yee achieved one of the most notable milestones of the year by becoming the youngest Best Actor in the history of the Golden Rooster Awards. After numerous nominations passed without victories, 2025 finally marked its turning point.
Jackson Yee remains an unparalleled box office phenomenon. All his films as protagonist Better days, A small red flower, Nice view, Full red river, Big world and others have exceeded RMB 1 billion in revenue. He is the only Chinese actor with a 100% record of billion RMB films.
Before even entering 2025, he had already starred in eight consecutive films that had surpassed RMB 100 million in pre-sales. In a slowing industry where even the best comedians struggle to attract audiences, Jackson Yee has surpassed RMB 15 billion in cumulative box office revenue, cementing his status as China’s leading young actor.
Liu Haoran: a triumphant return
According to 163, Liu Haoran staged a powerful comeback in 2025. His Chinese New Year blockbuster The Chinatown Detective, 1900with Wang Baoqiang, it exceeded RMB 3.6 billion (about $501 million). This success ended Liu Haoran’s string of box office disappointments after several critically panned films such as The ice breaking, Fire on the plainAND Decoded.
Later in August, his film Died for rights surpassed RMB 3 billion and went on to represent mainland China in the Academy Awards race. With this momentum, Liu Haoran rose to third place on the all-time Chinese box office box office chart with RMB 25.5 billion, behind only Shen Teng and Wu Jing.
Xiao Zhan: the most influential television star of 2025
On television, Xiao Zhan dominated 2025 with drama The Legend of Zang Haiwhich garnered over 2.9 billion views, making it the most-watched Chinese drama of the year according to Maoyan.
The drama earned 7 out of 8 nominations at the 16th Macao International Television Festival (Golden Lotus Awards).
Xiao Zhan remains the male star with the strongest fan base in China, with numerous high-value endorsement deals. At the cinema, his film Gezhi city it reached over 200 million RMB in just three days, further demonstrating its trading strength.
Sources: TP
