A look at China’s global box office rise

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‍China is now home to 49,000 movie screens, solidifying its place as the world leader in movie theaters.

China overtook the United States as the country with the most cinema screens in June, when Chinese authorities revealed that the number had surpassed 45,000 screens.

With this massive influx of screens around the nation, China’s box office numbers are surging.

/CGTN Digital

According to Zhang Hongsen, deputy director of China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT), around 1.4 billion Chinese went to the cinema in 2016 and the number continues to grow this year.

SAPPRFT said that China gained a total box office of 17.07 billion yuan (2.6 billion US dollars) in 2012, a 30-percent increase over the the previous year.

In that figure, 8.27 billion yuan in box office receipts was from domestic films, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the total.

"Wolr Warrior 2"/Deng Feng International Media

Screen gems

There were 21 domestic films that each made over 100 million yuan this year.

Successful domestic films include this year’s explosive hit “Wolf Warrior 2”, which was both a commercial and critical success earning 5.68 billion yuan and China’s selection as its nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

After breaking records at home and abroad, “Wolf Warrior 2” is the single highest-grossing film in the history of Chinese cinema and the first Chinese film to make the all-time global box office list, being ranked at 55th.

Homegrown heroes

"Lost in Thailand" /Beijing Enlight Pictures

Over the last five years, China’s box office has seen significant growth, especially in the domestic movie market. In 2012, Chinese comedy “Lost In Thailand” grossed more than 1.27 billion yuan at the Chinese box-office, becoming the first movie in China to earn over a billion yuan, and overtaking “Titanic”, which earned about 975 million yuan in China.

Between January 1 and October 16, box-office takings in China topped 46 billion yuan, and industry observers predict that the figure will rise to 55 billion yuan by the end of the year. An industry analyst said this signals stable, continuous growth from 2012.

So far this year, 13 homemade movies have taken more than 1 billion yuan and the number is expected to rise by the end of December.