When was the first film company in China established? Thank you.

China’s first film production company was founded by foreigners in 1909. This year, Benjamin Brasky, a businessman from the United States, invested in and established a film company in Shanghai: Asia Film Company, which also became the first film production company established in China. After Asia was established, several short films were filmed in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Such as "The Queen Mother of the West", "The Unfortunate Child", "Water Basin Redress", "Stealing a Roasted Duck", etc., but they did not succeed in the market. Then the Revolution of 1911 broke out, and it was difficult for the company to continue operating. Blasky transferred the company and all equipment to Ishr, the manager of Nanyang Insurance Company in Shanghai, and another American, Safer. In 1913, after changing hands, Asia was once again preparing to start filming movies. In order to better adapt to the Chinese audience, they specially hired Zhang Shichuan, a scribe who worked at Beihua Foreign Company and knew English, as a consultant. Although Zhang Shichuan knows little about movies, he is very interested in them. He invited his friend Zheng Zhengqiu, who liked drama, and another friend Du Junchu. After discussion, the three simply cooperated to establish a company called "Xinmin", which undertook all the film production work of Asia Film Company. Filming funding and film distribution were handled by Asia. In 1913, several semi-professional actors from Wenming Opera came to Shanghai, and Asia Asia Company hired them as actors to shoot China's first short feature film "A Difficult Husband and a Difficult Wife". The film was written by Zheng Zhengqiu and directed by Zhang Shichuan. Since then, Asia has also produced a number of important early documentaries in China, such as "Shanghai War" about the Second War of the Revolution of 1911, which recorded the revolutionary army's attack on the Shanghai Manufacturing Bureau and the Wusong Fort. In 1914, when World War I broke out, German film imports stopped, and the Asia Company ended because it could not make films. Apart from Asia, the only film production company run entirely by the Chinese is the "Huanxian Film Company" co-founded by Zhang Shichuan and several friends in 1916. However, this company only produced one film, "The Wrongful Souls of Black People", and ended due to financial difficulties. Since then, the company invested in film production by China's national capital is the famous Commercial Press. In 1917, the Commercial Press purchased a batch of film equipment from a foreigner at a low price and decided to engage in the film industry in addition to book publishing. This was the beginning of China's own investment in film production on a relatively large scale. The Commercial Press established a film shooting business under the original printing and photography department, and shot several newsreels such as "American Red Cross Shanghai Parade". In 1918, the Commercial Press formally established the "Moving Film Department" in addition to the Photography Department, and began large-scale film shooting activities. At that time, its shooting content included five categories of films: scenery, current affairs, education, new dramas, and ancient dramas. Among them, scenic films mainly shoot scenic spots and historic sites across the country; current affairs films are newsreels, recording social life in Shanghai; educational films mainly introduce education and scientific and cultural knowledge; the themes of new dramas are divided into funny short films, warning films, and monster films. Category 3 martial arts; ancient drama films mainly filmed clips of "Spring Fragrance in School" and "The Goddess Scattered Flowers" starring Mei Lanfang. In 1920, the Commercial Motion Picture Department was renamed the "Film Department", a larger studio was built within the management, and a batch of new equipment was purchased. At this time, the Commercial Press already had strong production capabilities, and even began to shoot long feature films, such as "The Killing of Relatives" in 1923. However, its operations gradually failed, and the board of directors finally decided to spin it off and establish The independent "Guoguang Film Company". The company lasted only a year before disappearing into obscurity. However, moving from "Asia" to "business" should be said to be the first step for Chinese film companies to move from foreign assistance to self-investment.