The Chinese animated film "All Wishes Come True" has grossed more than 800 million yuan (about 118 million U.S. dollars) since its release on July 18, becoming the biggest box office surprise for the ongoing summer movie season.
As of midnight Monday, China's box office for the summer season, which runs from June 1 to August 31, has exceeded 5.7 billion yuan, bringing the total box office for 2026 to more than 21.5 billion yuan, according to the data released by online ticket-selling platforms.
Inspired by the legend of the Eight Immortals, "All Wishes Come True" follows eight ordinary people who meet by chance and embark on an unexpected journey. Through a series of challenges, they gradually discover their strengths and eventually become the Eight Immortals.
The film mixes comedy, adventure and traditional Chinese visual elements and offers a new interpretation of a story that has been told for generations.
"The film is good. The visuals are beautiful, the story is engaging, and it's really funny. The adaptation feels fresh and heartfelt without falling into embarrassing clichés. It is one of my biggest surprises this summer," said Ms. Li, a moviegoer.
The animated film is a flagship project of the Tianfu Changdao Digital Cultural and Creative Park in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, where an integrated local animation ecosystem handles every stage of production -- from concept sketches and character design to animation, rendering and voice recording.
Behind the hand-painted aesthetic lies a sophisticated digital workflow. Artificial intelligence-assisted tools also helped generate scenes and visual effects, helping artists streamline production while preserving the film's distinctive visual style.
The momentum also reveals a noticeable trend that more studios are turning to China's myths and folklore to follow the record-breaking success of Ne Zha 2, which is the most-watched and highest-grossing film ever in China with a global box office of more than 15 billion yuan.
"The cultural treasures are just there, waiting to be explored. How to make the best of them and give them renewed vitality is where the difficulty, the true value and the meaning lie," said Mu Zhengyang, the film's director.
Chinese animated film emerges as biggest box office surprise for summer season
An autumn job fair opened in Beijing on Sunday at the China National Convention Center, drawing more than 400 employers with around 20,000 job openings.
Hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, together with multiple government departments, the job fair was designed to better match job seekers with employers in line with the capital's industrial planning and talent needs.
The venue was divided into 11 dedicated zones, covering various sectors, such as next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and biomedicine, to allow job seekers to speak directly with recruiters about job requirements, salaries and benefits.
To improve job matching, the fair also featured a new occupations experience area to show 10 recently developing roles, including robot data collectors and patient companion service providers.
"With the economy grows, especially the development of AI, many new occupations have emerged, for example, the generative AI trainers and data collectors. Some job seekers may not know much about new occupations, so we've brought these new careers here at the job fair to help job seekers better understand the prospects and the current state of these jobs," said Du Yang, director of the Beijing vocational introduction service center.
On site, many vocational skills training institutions cooperated with employers in such areas as AI and elder-friendly services to offer job seekers skills training and employment recommendations as part of a one-stop service to combine skills training, career experience and on-site recruitment.
"I often see this [AI comic drama producer] job mentioned in shorts of video apps, so I'm really interested in the workflow, the tools they use, and the current standard of the industry. I come here to see what the specific training process looks like and where it leads afterward. It helps me gain a further understanding of what the job market will demand in the future," said Yuan Yicheng, a job seeker.
Beyond offline job fair, all job openings from the fair have also been posted on the job service platform of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security's website. Job seekers can search openings and submit resumes online, with related services running through October 20.
Beijing hosts autumn job fair with around 20,000 jobs available
