Better Days -- a smash hit directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Tsang -- has received a nomination for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, making it the first Chinese film in the 18 years since Zhang Yimou's Hero to be nominated in the category, previously known as Best Foreign Language Film.

Other contenders include Another Round (Denmark), Collective (Romania), The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia) and Quo vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Featuring stars Zhou Dongyu and Yi Yangqianxi, Better Days was a sleeper hit in recent years, resonating with audiences for its look at campus bullying.

So far, a total of seven Chinese films have received Oscar nominations, including Zhang's Raise the Red Lantern and Chen Kaige's Farewell, My Concubine. Among them, only Ang Lee's martial arts tale Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has won the prize.

Better Days' Oscar nomination has stirred heated debate online, with related hashtags accumulating nearly 500 million views on the Twitter-like site Weibo. Many netizens say they are excited to see a Chinese work receive recognition at the Oscars, which signifies the rise of Chinese films.