China's Film Bureau issued a notice Friday evening to close all the cinemas nationwide again, according to reports from Xinhua Daily and ThePaper.

China closed all its cinemas in late January to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The shutdown happened on the weekend of the Chinese New Year, which is usually the most profitable movie season.

On March 16, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reopened the first cinema in the region as well as in the Chinese mainland as a whole. Since then, over 600 cinemas had been reopened by the end of Friday, but ticket sales were minimal and some places even witnessed zero revenue.

Media reports haven't made clear reasons behind the re-closure. Insiders say it's mainly because concerns over the coronavirus haven't fully abated even though the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases inside the country has largely dropped.

It's still unknown when cinemas will be opened again.