A list of mainland Chinese films released in 1996:
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cello in a Cab | Drama | Also known as The Street Rhapsody | ||
| East Palace, West Palace | Hu Jun, Si Han | Drama | One of the first Chinese films to address LGBT issues, screened at Cannes | |
| The Emperor's Shadow | Historical/Drama | |||
| Farewell Our 1948 | Drama | |||
| The King of Masks | Drama | |||
| Living Dream | Drama | |||
| Signal Left, Turn Right | Comedy | |||
| The Singer | ||||
| Sons | Docudrama | Tiger Award winner at the 1996 International Film Festival Rotterdam | ||
| A Story of Xiangxiang | Drama | |||
| The Strangers in Beijing | Drama | |||
| Sun Valley | Drama/Western | Entered into the 46th Berlin International Film Festival | ||
| Temptress Moon | Chen Kaige | Historical/Drama/Romance | Entered into the 1996 Cannes Film Festival | |
| Touching Starlight | ||||