"We have always been bullish on China's cultural industry," Fosun Chairman Guo Guangchang said, adding that SFG will help the company to dig deeper into cultural pursuits.

Peng Kan, research and development director of Legend Media, a Beijing-based consultancy, said the partnership with Fosun International could help SFG to get its stock market listing.

Fosun Group inks airport deal in Greece

Investors see golden opportunities on China's silver screens

The cooperation between Fosun and SFG also is in line with a trend in the world's second-largest movie market, where film companies are seeking to become comprehensive media conglomerates, or are looking for potential partners within or outside the film industry.

"Eventually, there will be only five or six movie conglomerates left in China after reshuffles in the industry, just like in Hollywood, and that's why every company now is striving to increase in size," said Peng.

China overtook Japan to become the world's second-biggest movie market in 2012, logging $2.66 billion at the box office. A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that spending in China's film industry will grow by 15 percent annually over the next five years, while overall spending in the entertainment and media sector will increase by 8 percent.

An ambitious cinema-building program is driving the box-office boom - each day, nine new screens open up on the Chinese mainland. The number of screens on the mainland has increased 10-fold in a decade, from fewer than 1,300 in 2002 to more than 13,100 by the end of 2012.

"The growing affluence of a rapidly emerging middle-class consumer with a propensity to spend on entertainment and media experiences, combined with improving infrastructure, is bolstering overall growth," said Marcel Fenez, global leader of PwC's entertainment and media section.