China's January box office surpasses 1 bln yuan

China

China's January box office surpasses 1 bln yuan

2026-01-10 17:01 Last Updated At：01-11 13:01

China's box office started 2026 with a revenue of more than 1 billion yuan (about 143.32 million U.S. dollars) as of 23:04 Friday, highlighting robust demand across the nation’s cinemas, according to box office data tracker Beacon.

The 2026 New Year holiday box office featured a strong lineup of new releases and holdovers from the 2025 year-end season. Catering to a wide range of audience preferences, the market was led by Disney's animated blockbuster "Zootopia 2," James Cameron’s sci-fi epic "Avatar 3", and the domestic suspense thriller "The Fire Raven," which together occupied the top three positions during the period.

Compared to previous years, the period between New Year's Day and the Spring Festival is typically a low season for box office revenue. However, in the first 10 days of January 2026, the country's cinema box office increased by more than 10 percent compared to the same period of 2025, which indicates that the off-season is not as lackluster, showcasing the robust momentum and significant growth potential of the Chinese film market.

A diverse lineup of domestic and imported films spanning comedy, action, suspense and romance has helped sustain strong audience turnout early in the year.

Shenzhou-23 astronauts board spaceship ahead of launch

The three astronauts of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceflight mission have boarded the spacecraft for a flight to China’s Tiangong space station.

The Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to blast off at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT) from northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The three Chinese astronauts, commander Zhu Yangzhu, spacecraft pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying, climbed aboard the spaceship with the help of technicians.

Following the launch, the astronauts will complete an in-orbit rotation with the outgoing Shenzhou-21 crew, and one of them will conduct a one-year in-orbit stay, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

Notably, astronaut Lai Ka-ying is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program, and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.