China's 2025 summer box office revenue has exceeded 10 billion yuan (about 1.4 billion U.S. dollars) as of Monday, with local productions dominating the top three spots, according to ticketing platforms Maoyan and Beacon.
"Dead To Rights," a film about the Nanjing Massacre during World War II, leads with 2.6 billion yuan (about 362.01 million U.S. dollars) in ticket sales since its July 25 release.
In second place is "Nobody," a spinoff from the acclaimed "Yao-Chinese Folktales" animation series. Since opening on Aug. 2, the film has earned more than 1 billion yuan (about 139.23 million U.S. dollars), setting a record for the highest-grossing two-dimensional animated release in China.
"The Lychee Road," a bittersweet period drama adapted from a bestselling novel set in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), holds third place, having grossed over 670 million yuan (about 93.29 million U.S. dollars) since its July 18 premiere.
China's summer moviegoing season, running from June 1 through Aug. 31, is one of the country's most lucrative box office periods.
China‘s 2025 summer box office surpasses 10 billion yuan, led by domestic films
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to China signals a policy shift towards building a more pragmatic relationship between the two countries, according to a Canadian researcher.
Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin an official visit to China through Saturday, which marks the first trip by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country in eight years.
Robert Hanlon, director and principal investigator of Canada and the Asia Pacific Policy Project (CAPPP) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that Carney's visit indicates Canada is recalibrating its strategic perception of China, which could cement the foundation for the country's economic diversification efforts and boost the development of bilateral cooperation.
"I think it's a clear message that he has moved Canada's strategy to a much more pragmatic, interest-based, -focused relationship with our trading partners, moving away from values-based narratives that we might have heard on previous governments. Canada has spoken about moving from what the Prime Minister's Office is calling "from reliance to resilience", and that means diversifying our economies and our trade everywhere in the world. And so China being our second largest trading partner, it makes perfect sense for our PM to head to Beijing," he said.
The scholar also noted the huge cooperation potential between the two sides in economic and trade fields, citing Canada's efforts to step up shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the planned construction of an oil pipeline in Alberta which aims to increase export access to Asian markets. "Canada and China both share tremendous economic opportunities together and so finding ways to enhance our exports. Canada specifically looking to build out its LNG and oil, kind of export market. We know Canada is a major producer of critical minerals and China is a buyer. And so there's a lot of synergy between that kind of those kind of markets," he said.
Canadian PM's visit to China paves way for more pragmatic trade ties: scholar
