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

Hungarians voted in parliamentary elections on Sunday, with about 8.1 million people eligible to cast ballots, according to the National Election Office.

Polls opened at 06:00 local time and closed at 19:00, with initial results expected late on Sunday evening.

Of the total, about 7.6 million voters were eligible to cast ballots in person at more than 10,000 polling stations nationwide, while some 500,000 were eligible to vote by mail.

Five parties or alliances are competing in the election. The latest opinion polls showed strong support for both Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz-Christian Democratic People's Party alliance and the opposition Tisza party led by Peter Magyar.

Among smaller parties, the far-right Our Homeland Movement is seen as having a chance to enter parliament, while others, including the Democratic Coalition and the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, are widely viewed as unlikely to cross the threshold.

This election marks Orban's fourth parliamentary race since returning to power in 2010, with the outcome set to determine whether he can secure a fifth consecutive term.

Under Hungary's electoral law, parliamentary elections are held every four years. The Hungarian parliament has 199 seats, including 106 filled through direct elections in single-member constituencies and 93 allocated to parties that enter parliament. The party or alliance that secures a majority of seats has the right to form a government.

Hungarians vote in parliamentary elections