2025 Spring Festival box office tops 8 billion yuan

The 2025 Spring Festival box office hit a record of 8.02 billion yuan (about 1.11 billion U.S. dollars) as of 15:30 Monday, with total revenue of the year reaching 9.82 billion yuan, according to the China Film Administration.

Leading the box office chart are three domestic films. Nezha: Demon Child Conquers the Sea, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2019 animated blockbuster, currently holds the top spot. It is followed by the comedy-mystery Detective Chinatown 1900, the fourth installment of the detective franchise. The epic mythological blockbuster Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force ranks third on the chart.

Notably, Nezha: Demon Child Conquers the Sea has upset the record set by Detective Chinatown 3 in 2021, making it the highest-grossing Spring Festival film in Chinese cinema history.

This year's Spring Festival box office began breaking records even before the official holiday started, with pre-sale figures renewing records time and again.

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, the box office and total audience attendance delivered a new single-day high.

The cumulative box office from Wednesday to Saturday set a new record for the same period in previous Spring Festivals.

Also from Wednesday to Sunday, daily box office earnings consistently exceeded one billion yuan (around 138.9 million U.S. dollars).

Compared with previous years, this year's Spring Festival film lineup has been more diverse, with six major domestic films spanning genres of animation, mystery, martial arts, fantasy, and military action. This variety appeals to a wide range of audience preferences.

In terms of infrastructure, the Chinese film market saw the opening of 221 new cinemas from January 22 to 27, adding 1,402 new screens and 157,219 seats.

These newly built facilities, equipped with advanced technology and high-quality services, have further improved the moviegoing experience.

Local authorities and cinemas across the country have also launched promotional discounts and incentives, encouraging more people to visit theaters during the holiday season.

2025 Spring Festival box office tops 8 billion yuan

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed self-reliance in science and technology, hailing it as the "key" in building China into a great modern socialist country, during an inspection tour of an information technology innovation park in Beijing on Monday.

When visiting the national information technology innovation park in Beijing E-Town, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, viewed displays showcasing sci-tech achievements in fields such as artificial intelligence and robotics, and spoke with researchers and heads of technology enterprises. Xi said he was "even more confident" in the country's sci-tech innovation after seeing what was presented during the visit.

He stressed that sci-tech self-reliance and strength is the "key" in China's efforts to build a great modern socialist country and urged the Chinese capital to leverage its unique strengths to make greater contributions in this regard.

He also extended his Spring Festival wishes to the crowd at the park.

The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, is the most important traditional festival for the Chinese. This year it falls on Feb 17.

Xi stresses sci-tech self-reliance in building great modern socialist country