China's box office in 2026 hit the mark of 2 billion yuan (about 287.7 million U.S. dollars) as of 15:26 Sunday, according to online box office data trackers.
With the 2026 Spring Festival approaching, the film market continues to heat up. To date, six domestic films have announced their release dates during the festival: Pegasus 3, Scare Out, Blades of the Guardians, Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector, Per Aspera Ad Astra, and Panda Plan: The Magical Tribe. These films cover a variety of genres including martial arts, action, suspense, fantasy, comedy, and animation, catering to diverse audience preferences.
According to past experiences, the period between the New Year holiday and the Spring Festival holiday 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 with 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.
China's box office in 2026 hits 2-bln-yuan mark ahead of Spring Festival
China has increased transportation capacity in its air, highway and railway systems to handle a busier 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which is set to begin on Monday and expected to see 9.5 billion cross-regional passenger trips.
Each year during the period, millions of people working, studying, or living away from their hometowns return for the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday, forming the world's largest annual human migration.
The railway network in China has geared up to meet the growing travel demand. It is capable of scheduling over 14,000 passenger trains per day during the peak period of the travel rush, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.3 percent in transportation capacity.
"By analyzing data flows, we are now capable of tracking passengers' demands and dynamically managing transportation capacity in areas such as ticket purchasing, waitlist management, and transportation capacity adjustments so that the transportation resources will be used more effectively to meet passengers' travel needs," said Zhang Zhiqiang, head of the operation support department at the China Railway 12306 Technology Center.
During the travel rush, China's civil aviation sector is expected to schedule an average of 19,400 flights per day, increasing by 5 percent year on year.
Helping meet capacity, a new terminal was put into test operation at Sanya Phoenix International Airport on Sunday to facilitate smooth travel in the island province of Hainan, which is a popular tourism destination for people from home and abroad during the Spring Festival holiday.
The country is also expected to handle record-high daily self-driving trips and highway traffic volume during the travel rush period.
The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, falls on February 17 this year. The official holiday lasts nine days, with the travel rush running through March 13.
China increases transportation capacity to handle busier Spring Festival travel rush
