China's provincial film bureaus will soon be given authority to review local films independently in order to streamline the usually lengthy approval process.

Currently, all films intended for cinema release have to pass the scrutiny of the state watchdog, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

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This time, provincial regulators nationwide will censor films that are produced by companies within their jurisdiction, a practice that is already being done in five provinces since 2010.

In theory, it means that local films will get to cinemas much faster.  There is no guarantee, however, if it will be easier for local directors to get controversial content past censors.

Industry experts remain skeptical if the state film regulator's plan will ease the film industry landscape.

"A new bottle with old wine," said Director Xie Fei in his Sina Weibo account.  

"Film regulators censor many local films that will never make it to screens to be seen by audiences while turning a blind eye to the absence of ratings on foreign films posted online as well as the messy situation of intellectual rights protection online," Xie added.

While Chinese theaters are only allowed to show 34 foreign films per year, millions of Chinese watch foreign and domestic films and TV shows online, many of them for free.

Zhou Jianwei of the Shanghai Film Critics Society says decentralizing the censorship process will not help China's film industry grow.

"Only by abolishing the censorship system and setting up a rating system can really solve the problem," he added.

"In the past 20 years, every China director faced a great torment...and that torment is censorship," said prominent film Director Feng Xiaogang.

The state regulator has notified its local units that the decentralization of censorship will take effect in April.

Despite the lack of a fundamental reform in China's film censorship, a few policy changes were  introduced in recent years.

In 2006, amendments were made to the effect that producers and directors need only submit a brief summary of the plot instead of a full script, to get their films approved for shooting.