As of 19:49 on Monday, China's total box office revenue for the Qingming Festival holiday had surpassed 300 million yuan (about 43.6 million U.S. dollars), according to data from online platforms.
The holiday lineup features animation, family, suspense, and other genres, with "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie", "Project Hail Mary", "It's OK", and "Now I Met Her" leading the tally.
The Qingming Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday that falls on the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, and China's three-day Qingming Festival holiday started on Saturday this year. While it is a time to enjoy the greenery of springtime and to visit the graves of ancestors, the holiday has also become a busy period for cultural and tourism activities in China, including visits to the cinema.
Cinemas in Beijing's Chaoyang District, as one of the first pilot areas for China's "movie plus" initiative, are actively exploring the "ticket stub economy," allowing moviegoers to present their ticket stubs from cinemas to receive discounts and added services in subsequent consumption scenarios.
In Xi'an City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the Xi'an Film Studio Experience Center for Arts of Film integrates film history with tourism, immersing visitors in the glory of classic movies.
"The exhibition gave me a systematic understanding of the historical development of Chinese film industry, allowing me to follow the footsteps of films to learn new things. I harvested both happiness and novel knowledge," said Qiu Keyu, a tourist.
The XR cinema in the park immerses visitors in film scenes.
"After putting on the XR device, I felt completely immersed - it was quite exciting," said Liu Bin, a moviegoer.
Qingming holiday box office hits 300 mln yuan
The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, leading to a systemic economic shock that has reverberated through energy markets, industrial supply chains and critical maritime routes.
As part of its response to U.S. and Israeli attacks, Iran has restricted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, targeting ships associated with the United States and Israel. The blockade of this vital global energy route has driven up oil and gas prices worldwide.
As a key energy shipping lane, the strait saw 20 million barrels crude and oil product flowing through per day, around 25 percent of the world's seaborne oil trade in 2025, according to a report released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) this March.
In addition, about 20 percent of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade transited Hormuz in 2024, primarily from Qatar, with a smaller volume from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Over 70 percent of the oil flowing through the strait is transported to the Asian market. Japan and Republic of Korea (ROK) import 90 percent and 95 percent of their respective oil consuption.
The IEA estimates that as of the end of March, Hormuz disruptions have led to an oil supply gap of roughly 10 million to 16 million barrels per day.
Though the IEA made 400 million barrels of emergency oil stocks available in March -- the largest-ever release coordinated by the agency, it still failed to curb the rapid rise in international oil prices.
Based on Fitch Ratings' March outlook, should the Middle East conflict persist until the end of June, it could see global real GDP growth shrink by approximately 0.8 percentage points.
"Shipping costs are rising because of insurance premiums, because of higher fuel costs, and because of longer trips as you have to avoid certain parts. Then that starts feeding through to higher prices of other goods as well. That could be food, commodities, etc. And then the other thing to think about is inventory and supply chain disruptions. And then when you combine all of these factors together, it feeds into producer price indices and consumer price indices," said Cedric Chehab, chief economist at BMI, a Fitch Solutions company.
Middle East tensions hit global economy
