Graphics: China's entertainment and media industry sees robust growth in 2023

A total of 342,400 commercial performances were held across China in the first three quarters of 2023, up 278.76 percent from the same period last year, attracting over 110 million people, according to data from the China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA).

The performances have generated box office receipts of more than 31.54 billion yuan during the same period, a year-on-year increase of 453.74 percent, data from the CAPA showed.

China's performance market size slumped from 2020 to 2022. Compared with 2019, the market size has nearly halved. Since the beginning of this year, China's performance market has continued to grow, with robust supply and demand, said Pan Yan, vice president and secretary-general of the CAPA.

The national cultural and entertainment market is vibrant, with concerts and music festivals emerging as new formats that directly drive the development of the tourism industry and consumption. According to the forecast by the media consulting company, the performance market size is expected to exceed 90 billion in 2023.

Cross-city attendance at performances has become a trend. "The relatively high cross-city attendance rate of people at concerts offered by some famous singers in places like Beijing reflects the concerts' role in driving cultural and tourism consumption," Pan said.

Large-scale performances like concerts and music festivals, consumer spending on transportation, accommodation and catering, trips and shopping exceeded 2 billion yuan during the eight-day combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period of 2023.

China's film market has also saw recovery in 2023. As of November 13, this year's film box office earnings in China had surpassed 50 billion yuan. This is the first time since 2020 that earnings have touched the magic 50-billion-yuan mark, according to the China Film Administration. The Chinese box office in 2023 is still predominantly driven by domestic movies, with local films accounting for nearly 84 percent of total revenue.  

During this year's summer holiday, China's total box office soared to 20.6 billion yuan, setting a new record for the country's summer box office sales.

The yearly film box office sales for 2020, 2021, and 2022 were 20.4 billion yuan, 47.3 billion yuan, and 30.1 billion yuan respectively. As of December 28, this year's box office sales have reached 53.6 billion yuan.