The total box office revenue of China's ongoing eight-day National Day holiday has surpassed the 1.5-billion-yuan (about 210 million U.S. dollars) mark (including pre-sales) as of Monday afternoon, according to online ticketing platform data.
Leading the charts are domestic war epics "The Volunteers: Peace at Last" and "Evil Unbound".
"The Volunteers: Peace at Last," the finale of director Chen Kaige's "The Volunteers" trilogy, recreates the intertwined struggles of battlefield combat and tense diplomatic negotiations during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953).
"Evil Unbound," a domestic production that depicts the atrocities that Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731 committed in China during World War II, revolves around the fates of a group of innocent victims who are imprisoned by Unite 731 and become subjects of inhumane torture experiments such as frostbite, poison gas and vivisection experiments.
Meanwhile, the heartwarming comedy "Row to Win" and the animation film "Three Kingdoms: Starlit Heroes" offer more options for family viewing.
The blend of family-friendly humor and heartfelt moments has made "Row to Win" a top choice for multigenerational moviegoers.
In the animation category, "Three Kingdoms: Starlit Heroes" re-imagines China's classic historical epic through a fresh, youth-oriented lens, successfully drawing in families and younger viewers.
Other notable performers include the crime drama "Sound of Silence," which focuses on a scam targeting the deaf community.
National Day box office surpasses 1.5-billion-yuan mark
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
