A list of mainland Chinese films released in 1997:
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese Box | Gong Li, Jeremy Irons, Maggie Cheung, Rubén Blades | Drama | ||
| Colors of the Blind | Drama | |||
| Concerto of Life | Drama | |||
| Dragon Town Story | Revenge drama | |||
| Dream Factory | Comedy | |||
| Eighteen Springs | Drama | Hong Kong/Mainland co-production | ||
| Fitness Tour | Comedy | |||
| Frozen | Drama | Wang made this film under the name "Wu Ming" or "no name" | ||
| Keep Cool | Black comedy | |||
| Live in Peace | Drama | 1998 Golden Rooster for Best Picture | ||
| Maiden Work | Drama | |||
| The Making of Steel | Drama | |||
| The Opium War | War/Historical | 1997 Golden Rooster for Best Picture | ||
| Out of Phoenix Bridge | Documentary | |||
| Red River Valley | Feng Xiaoning | Historical | ||
| Spicy Love Soup | Romantic drama | Zhang Yang's directorial debut | ||
| Surveillance | Entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival | |||
| Warriors of Virtue | Angus Macfadyen, Mario Yedidia, Chao-Li Chi | Co-produced with U.S.A. | ||
| Xiao Wu | Drama | Jia Zhangke's directorial debut | ||