Wang Xiaoshuai and A Mei take the best screenplay award for So Long, My Son at the Golden Rooster Awards in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Nov 23. [Photo/Xinhua]

The film, about a family's decades of suffering brought by the death of their son, also scooped up the award for best screenplay. It was co-written by A Mei and director Wang Xiaoshuai.

Wang Jingchun said he was thrilled to win the top acting award, the first in his career, which has spanned around 20 years. The prize fulfilled his highest ambitions as a professional performer, he said.

The Wandering Earth, a game-changer that revived the Chinese sci-fi film genre, took home the award for Best Picture.

Guo Fan, director of the blockbuster, said he is preparing a sequel and will spend three or four years in polishing the script, followed by a year of shooting.

Guo said The Wandering Earth, despite its overwhelming popularity with Chinese audiences, may just surpass 60 points out of 100 in the reference system of the world's top sci-fi films. He said he hopes the sequel will raise the line a bit more, to "around 70 points".