China's 2025 total box office has surpassed 11 billion yuan (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) as of 14:43 on Tuesday, including real-time presales, driven by the strong performance of Spring Festival films.
By 10:00 Tuesday morning, over 170 million tickets had been sold during this Spring Festival, beating last year’s total and setting a new all-time high for movie attendance during the holiday.
This year's Spring Festival lineup is a feast of Chinese film IPs, featuring a diverse range of genres including martial arts, mythology, and animation. Multiple sequels and classic adaptations have hit theaters, attracting a wide audience.
Cinemas are adjusting the number of screenings daily based on audience ratings to meet demand. Experts note that a film's performance is influenced by a variety of factors beyond just its market positioning.
"The quality of the film is the core, including the story, audio-visual effects, and character development, all of which affect audience reviews. Word-of-mouth helps audiences share and discuss the film both online and offline, increasing its popularity. Positive word-of-mouth attracts more viewers to the cinema and boosts box office performance," said Ren Yue, vice president of China Film Group Corporation.
Data shows that over 30 percent of viewers for Ne Zha 2 watch the film in groups. Most films have ratings above 9.3 out of 10. Industry insiders are optimistic that this Spring Festival will set a new record for both the highest box office and the best word-of-mouth, laying a solid foundation for the stable growth of the film market in 2025.
The National Film Administration launched a nationwide film consumption season during this Spring Festival, with a total subsidy of no less than 600 million yuan (about 83 million U.S. dollars) for moviegoers, allowing audiences to enjoy the film feast more affordably.
"Third-party apps have notified me that many films are now subsidized to 19.9 yuan (about 2.8 U.S. dollars) during the Spring Festival. We think it's really worth it to come and watch a few movies at this price," said a moviegoer.
"Starting from January 29, cinemas received subsidies. Third-party platforms offer 15-yuan movie tickets all day long, and the subsidy intensity during the Spring Festival is unprecedented," said Wu Ying, manager of the China Film International Theater in Beijing.
Taopiaopiao, a leading ticketing platform in China, is taking active steps to boost moviegoers' enthusiasm. The platform's manager said that this year, Taopiaopiao will invest over 100 million yuan (about 14 million U.S. dollars) in ticket subsidies during the Spring Festival, supporting moviegoers in key regions.
China's 2025 box office surpasses 11 billion yuan
China's 2025 box office surpasses 11 billion yuan
China's 2025 box office surpasses 11 billion yuan
Foreign diplomats and scholars are looking closely at this year's "two sessions", saying China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) will not only chart the nation's economic and technological priorities but also reshape global value chains.
The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation's top political advisory body, opened on Wednesday, followed by the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday. Together known as the "two sessions," these meetings offer a comprehensive view into China's development priorities.
Global observers emphasized that the 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint guiding the nation's economic, social, and technological priorities over the next five years, marks a decisive shift toward high‑quality growth anchored in advanced technologies, with ripple effects across the world.
"The two sessions will discuss China's five-year plan, which is heavily oriented toward China's major technological development. I believe this is important because it represents the new blueprint for China's economy, which is now oriented toward the renowned high-quality development, and this will undoubtedly impact the entire world. I think it is worth studying. This is very important for Latin America. It will help us integrate more intelligently into global value chains and into all aspects of the major development that China is promoting in iconic industrial sectors, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space development, where Latin America also has much to contribute beyond just commercial growth," said Gustavo Sabino Vaca Narvaja, former Argentine Ambassador to China.
"The two sessions are a major political milestone in China, and this year's gathering carries even greater significance as this year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. This plan represents not only a blueprint for China, but also a guide for other countries. Instruments like the five-year plan effectively provide greater certainty and predictability for the rest of the world," said Chilean scholar of international relations Ignacio Araya Heredia.
"This is a particularly important date, especially due to the fact that the next Five-Year Plan shall be positioned and we're going to see what its main elements shall be. Serbia, which has a very high degree of steel friendship with the People's Republic of China, can expect further assistance in identifying the most prominent areas of Serbian economy and being helped by its great partner, such as it has been done in the previous period, from one part with establishing the main infrastructure projects, but also reshaping the industrial sector of Serbia, not just Serbia, but the region as a whole," said Veljko Mijuskovic, assistant professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade.
Beyond the policy framework, experts also pointed to China's achievements in green energy and technological innovation as models worth emulating.
Tomasz Bielinski, adjunct professor at the University of Gdansk's Faculty of Economics, said the robotics displays at the 2026 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala reflected China's broader push in technological innovation.
"I was really impressed about the robotics. I'm very impressed with Chinese development in the technological field, we can still make great deals with Chinese businessmen and we can cooperate together to use this technology for both the good of China and the European Union. I'm aware of the innovation especially in autonomous drive on the on the Chinese side," he said.
"We hope for more of China's economic cooperation, especially in trade and also in investment. Also, and the other focus, if I talk about the focus of the development, don't forget about the green energy. We know that China is great in the electric vehicle field. So because China's electric vehicles in Indonesia nowadays, since couple of years ago, are very, very popular," said Al Busyra Basnur, president of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association.
Observers see China's new five-year plan driving high-quality development, global tech shifts
