Chinese animated film "Ne Zha 2" has gained acclaim from industry insiders in Singapore who hailed its stunning visuals and compelling storyline ahead if its wide release in the Southeast Asian country.
After smashing box office records worldwide, the hit film launched in Singapore on March 6, but a group of lucky fans and invited show-business insiders graced the premiere a few days earlier.
Joyce Lee, director of local film distributor Encore Films, said the viewing bolstered her confidence in the film's potential to take Singapore by storm.
"Over the last 22 years of my career, I've never seen a response like that, I've never seen anticipation from the audience, all the news it has made on social media. I've not seen something like that. So initially I was thinking probably I would be very happy if it could do 2 million dollars in Singapore and that would have broken all records for Chinese films in Singapore, but then after today, after everybody's response, I think I'm actually adjusting it, I'm being very optimistic here, so I think 5 million. I'm gunning for that," said Lee
As a sequel to the 2019 animated hit "Ne Zha", the latest installment in this rebellious diety's saga has captivated audiences worldwide. The film is now the world's highest-grossing animated film of all time and only the seventh film to pass the 2-billion-dollar mark globally, joining the likes of "Titanic" and "Avatar".
If it can achieve similar success in Singapore, that would be fantastic news for The Projector, an independent cinema that specializes in art-house films and is committed to creating a space where audiences can experience different types of film.
Impressed with the success of "Ne Zha 2" and other Chinese releases, The Projector's program curator Adeleena Araib said she plans to bring more Chinese content to Singapore.
"I also think that Chinese animated films, and also Chinese films in general, are getting a lot more traction for diverse audiences around the world who want something different other than the traditional Western style of animation or even the storytelling," she said.
For others at the pre-viewing, "Ne Zha 2" represents the advancement of quality cinema in the Asia-Pacific.
"I'm very proud that an Asian animation film is completely owning the scene and I think it deserves every bit of credit, because the animation is 10 upon 10, the storyline is 10 upon 10, so I'm really happy that they are showing our fight, our might and our skill set in animation," Isaac Ong, musician and founder of Colours Global.
Chinese animated film 'Ne Zha 2' earns acclaim from Singapore's show-business insiders
China will continuously build a robust domestic market to bolster its economy and counter external challenges in accordance with the requirements and arrangement from the annual Central Economic Work Conference, which put domestic demand at the forefront of eight key tasks for next year's economic work, according to experts.
The tone-setting conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday in which the Chinese leadership decided priorities for the economic work in 2026.
Over the past four years, domestic demand has contributed an average of 86.4 percent to China's economic growth, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.
"The top priority is to expand domestic demand as the key reason for this is that our demand is relatively weak. The first step here is figuring out how to increase consumption," said Chen Binkai, vice president of Central University of Finance and Economics.
Consumption has continued to play a leading role in the country's economic growth this year. In the first three quarters, final consumption expenditure contributed 53.5 percent to economic growth, an increase of 9 percentage points compared to the whole of last year.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference proposed that in 2026, a special campaign to boost consumption will be implemented in depth, the supply of high-quality goods and services will be expanded, policies on new and emerging industries will be optimized, unreasonable restrictions in the consumption field will be eliminated, and the potential of service consumption will be unleashed.
"Previously, much of the consumption we have encouraged is for manufactured goods. However, the growth rate of our service sector is not as ideal as that of the manufacturing sector. Therefore, increasing some investment to encourage consumption in the service sector may play a better role in stabilizing growth and expanding domestic demand," said Huang Qunhui, a researcher of the Institute of Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Experts said that income is the primary factor determining consumption, and only by increasing residents' disposable income, can their consumption capacity be improved.
They also said that the conference, while emphasizing the promotion of consumption, also clearly pointed out the need to formulate and implement a plan to increase the income of urban and rural residents.
"The Third Plenary Session [of the 20th CPC Central Committee] mentioned the need to increase the proportion of residents' income, specifically the proportion of labor compensation within that income. The Fourth Plenary Session [of the 20th CPC Central Committee] further proposed implementing a specific income-increasing plan for urban and rural residents. Of course, consumption is not solely an income issue. We need to strengthen basic public services and improve our social security fund. If these issues are further improved and optimized, and residents have higher incomes, they will be more willing to spend more on consumption, especially on development-oriented consumption," said Huang.
Expanding domestic demand remains top priority for China's economic work in 2026: experts
