China's film market soars past 10 bln yuan, driving economic boom, cultural tourism

The Chinese film market has once again demonstrated its formidable strength, with its total box office revenue (including pre-sales) for 2026 surpassing the 10 billion yuan (approx. 1.46 billion U.S. dollars) mark by 18:54 on Sunday.

This achievement positions China as the global leader in single-market box office, outperforming the North American market by over 2.5 billion yuan. As of the latest data, the total number of moviegoers in 2026 has reached 225 million, with over 26.1 million screenings.

Achieving a 10 billion yuan box office within just two months of the new year not only underscores the robust vitality of the Chinese film market but also reflects the continuous optimization of its industrial structure and increasing market resilience.

The recent Spring Festival holiday period serves as a prime example, recording 5.75 billion yuan (about 828.65 million U.S. dollars) in box office revenue, with an average ticket price decrease of 6 percent year on year. Over 120 million people attended screenings, and the total number of screenings exceeded 4.35 million, setting a new historical high for the Spring Festival slot.

A notable trend is the strong engagement from younger audiences. Data from Maoyan, a Chinese movie-ticketing and film data platform, indicates that moviegoers under the age of 25 now account for 27.61 percent of the total for the year, a significant increase from 23.53 percent in the same period last year. This demographic trend is becoming a crucial driver for the sustained growth of the Chinese film market.

The impact of a single movie ticket extends far beyond the theater, stimulating an entire consumption chain that includes dining, shopping,transport and cultural creative industries.

Commercial districts surrounding cinemas are bustling, with "movie-watching, dining and shopping" becoming a standard outing. This cinematic momentum has injected strong vitality into the offline physical economy. To date, the film industry has driven an output value exceeding 150 billion yuan across its entire industrial chain this year.

Beyond the screening room, the "China Travel With Chinese Films" campaign is igniting a new wave of consumption in tourism. Various regions are leveraging their unique local characteristics to create "film + cultural tourism" consumption scenarios. This initiative is rapidly transforming cinematic "traffic" into tourism "growth," injecting robust impetus into the cultural tourism market.

China's film market soars past 10 bln yuan, driving economic boom, cultural tourism

Iranians have gathered at Tehran's Enghelab Square on Sunday in support of the government after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli attacks on Saturday.

The Iranian government announced a 40-day mourning period after the report of the leader's death.

"It is our duty as a people to preserve calm and unity, and we must be strong — and we are. Our sorrow is for ourselves, because the Leader has achieved his wish: martyrdom on this path. The armed forces must respond to this act in the most forceful and powerful way possible and avenge this blood," said Minoo, a protester.

"We are in deep mourning, but this heavy grief does not mean we have become weak. Rather, it makes us, the people, more resilient in the face of Iran's enemies," said Fatemeh, another protester.

"The Supreme Leader was like a father to us, and it feels as though we have lost our own father. We call on the armed forces to give a decisive response to this aggression," said Pooya, a local resident.

On Saturday morning, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. bases across the region.

Several Iranian senior officials, including Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Abdolrahim Mousavi, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Secretary of the Defense Council Ali Shamkhani, and Mohammad Pakpour, chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were also killed in the strike.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society said that the strikes hit at least 24 of Iran's 31 provinces, with 201 deaths and 747 injuries reported so far.

Iranians mourn supreme leader's death, vow solidarity