China has approved the screening of a movie considered the first in Chinese mainland  on gay relationships this winter after a one-year wait, a sign insiders consider a huge step forward for the country's film industry.

The film, Seek McCartney, co-produced in China and France starring Chinese singer and actor Han Geng and award-winning French actor Jérémie Elkaïm, has been approved by China's media watchdog, film director Wang Chao announced on his Sina Weibo account on Saturday.

Wang, known in the French film industry for his films, The Orphan of Anyang and Luxury Car, said on his Weibo that "it is a small step for the regulator and a big step for filmmakers…It was not easy, but was delightful."

Han said on his Weibo that the film might be shown in theaters in winter this year. 

Cheng Qingsong, a screenwriter and movie critic, told the Global Times on Tuesday that "this is the first movie on gay relationships approved by the country's regulator. After waiting for a year, this is a big step forward [for China's film industry]."

Cheng said that, previously, several films with similar themes were banned, and whether other similar films will be approved remains to be seen.

Some gay films such as Lan Yu, featuring popular Chinese actors Liu Ye and Hu Jun with full-frontal male nudity, although banned from Chinese theaters, are now available on video-streaming websites. 

Cheng's views were echoed by Popo Fan, a documentary filmmaker and a LGBT campaigner, who told the Global Times that more mainstream movies have been featuring homosexuals, which could help encourage more people understand them. Fan added the current regulating system, which lacks film classification based on movie content, may restrict the diversity of films.

In 2008, China's media watchdog's regulations considered homosexuality part of pornographic and vulgar content. That provision was abolished in 2010.