Chinese animated film emerges as biggest box office surprise for summer season

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

China will advance balanced growth in imports and exports and maintain an open market to the world, said a senior commerce official at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

He Shaojun, head of the Department of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce, stressed that China's trade policy prioritizes balance, and that even a large surplus signals industrial resilience rather than excess capacity.

Chinese-made consumer goods, including computers, mobile phones, furniture, clothing and toys, have given consumers around the world more options, helped lower costs and cushioned inflation risks, he said.

"China's exports of production equipment and intermediate goods have strongly underpinned its trading partners' industrial growth. With over 80 percent of global solar modules and 70 percent of wind power equipment coming from China, the country has become a key enabler of the global green transition. Foreign-invested enterprises, which generate 16 percent of China's surplus, have also reaped significant rewards. This is a clear example of how the surplus remains in China while the gains are shared by all," said He.

The ministry also said that while China runs a sizable surplus in goods trade, its services trade and capital and financial accounts are in deficit.

The current account surplus accounts for about 3.7 percent of GDP, which falls within the internationally recognized reasonable range and does not indicate any significant imbalance in the balance of payments, the ministry said.

China to continue actively pushing for import‑export balance: official