Chinese actresses Zhou Dongyu (left) and Ma Sichun pose for a picture at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, Taiwan,on November 26, 2016. Photo:IC

Chinese mainland films and personnel have been suspended from participating in the 2019 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in China's Taiwan, according to a statement from China's National Film Bureau on Wednesday.

The Golden Horse Film Festival is one of the three major Chinese-language film awards, along with Hong Kong Film Award and Golden Rooster Awards.

Established in 1962, the annual awards has been held in November or December in Taipei with the aim of promote filmmaking in China's Taiwan and to recognize filmmakers who have made outstanding contributions to Chinese film culture. 

The awards - including the award for Best Director, the award for Best Leading Actor and the award for Best Leading Actress - do not have geographical restrictions and so accepts all Chinese language films made anywhere in the world. 

Movies from Chinese mainland have gradually dominated the awards since 1990s. Then young director Jiang Wen's 1993 movie In the Heat of the Sun made the history by winning two heavy weight awards in 1996 including Best Director and Best Leading Actor. Following Jiang's steps, Chinese mainland movie directors and actors like Feng Xiaogang, Zhang Yimou and Xu Zheng have bagged a number of awards at each year's awards. 

In 2016,director Feng Xiaogang, won Best Director for his film I Am Not Madame Bovary, and actor Fan Wei won Best Leading Actor award for his acting in  Mr. No Problem. Besides, the award for Best Leading Actresses was given to two actresses from one film, Soul Mate, Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun. All of the winners are from the mainland. 

"The films from Taiwan started to decline when Hollywood films swept the film market in Taiwan in the 20th century. Not only films, but also the TV drama and other shows in Taiwan have gone down to decline, just like the sunset," Fan Xiaoqing, an associate professor from the theater and film academy of Communication University of China, told the Global Times.