Once dismissed by audiences, Chinese animation is now a box office powerhouse, thrilling viewers and rewriting industry expectations.
A decade ago, Chinese animation lagged far behind international competitors, often seen as just for kids. Today, homegrown animated features command nearly half the domestic market, proving just as innovative as their global peers, both in visual spectacle and storytelling.
This summer's sensation, "All Wishes Come True," inspired by the legend of the Eight Immortals, has earned over 1.4 billion yuan (about 20.6 million U.S. dollars) in just three weeks, topping the year's animation chart and breaking into China's all-time box office top 10.
"The plot is full of surprises, twist after twist. You don't know the truth until the very last second," said one moviegoer.
"From the art style to the way it blends traditional culture with modern life, I love every bit of it," said another.
This rise kicked off in 2015, when "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" surprised the market with nearly a billion yuan, driven by grassroots support. Then came "Ne Zha" in 2019, smashing through five billion yuan and flipping the traditionally import-led market overnight. In 2025, "Ne Zha 2" took it further, reaching 15.4 billion yuan and becoming the highest-grossing animated feature globally.
"Animation remains a dominant force this summer. Last year, three titles alone -- 'Ne Zha 2,' 'Zootopia 2,' and 'Nobody' -- claimed 42 percent of annual ticket sales. Today, quality comes first. That's a return to cinema's essence -- and animation is riding that wave," said A Lang, editor-in-chief of Movie View Magazine.
Hits like "Ne Zha," "New Gods: Yang Jian," and the "White Snake" series have won both critical praise and popular support.
"I'm a big fan of the 'Ne Zha' series, 'New Gods: Yang Jian,' and 'White Snake,'" said one moviegoer.
"'I Am What I Am' was absolutely stunning. It made me rediscover traditional lion dance," said another.
From the cultural margins to the very heart of the mainstream, Chinese animation's renaissance is still unfolding and movie fans are already waiting for the next breakthrough.
Chinese animation surges to box office milestone
China's 16th Arctic Ocean expedition achieved the country's first video call spanning the North and South Poles on September 25, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival, using a domestically developed satellite system with a delay of no more than one second.
The expedition deployed four vessels -- Xuelong, Xuelong 2, Jidi, and Tansuo 3 -- to study extreme environmental changes in the Arctic amid accelerating global warming. On September 29, China's research icebreakers Xuelong and Xuelong 2 returned to Shanghai after completing their missions, while Jidi and Tansuo 3 continue their expedition tasks and are expected to return in mid-October following a three-month journey.
The expedition team held a satellite video conversation with China's Antarctic Qinling Station, extending festive greetings to their polar scientific research counterparts and testing a large-scale constellation designed to provide global broadband internet and support integrated space-Earth 6G networks.
"This is the first time that China has used a domestically developed communications satellite system to make a video call across the largest latitude span," said Liu Feng, a senior engineer at the National Marine Data and Information Service.
The around-13,000-satellite GW constellation, led by China Satellite Network Group (SatNet), is China's first mega low Earth orbit satellite internet project. During the polar test, the maximum uplink and downlink speed reached around 30 megabits per second, equivalent to taking about 10 minutes to download a 1GB file. The equipment can also be used for emergency rescue and maritime communications.
"During the test period, it also supported real-time communications among Xuelong, Jidi, Tansuo 3, the National Marine Data and Information Service and the Polar Research Center. After Jidi and Tansuo 3 entered ice zone operation areas, their communication could not be guaranteed. So file transfers and navigation logs had to be transmitted through the SatNet equipment," said Zhang Bin, an engineer at the National Marine Data and Information Service. The successful test of the domestically produced satellite communication equipment marks China's independent control over polar region communications. The equipment ensures that data remains within the country, effectively safeguarding data security.
China holds first video call between North, South Poles via homegrown satellite system
