Gitnux/Report 2026

Chinese Movie Industry Statistics

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Chinese Movie Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

Before any source is gathered, an editor locks the question, what qualifies, and how the piece will be judged.

02Source Research

Search agents collect the source set and pull each data point out with its provenance attached.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 31 days

01 Industry overview

The chinese movie industry at a glance

China’s movie industry rebounded strongly in 2025, with national box office reaching RMB51.832 billion, up 21.95% year on year and led by domestic productions.

RMB51.832B[61]
2025 box office
79.67%[62]
Domestic film share, 2025
93,187[62]
Cinema screens, 2025
9.4%[63]
Forecast CAGR, 2026–2033
Market size
China’s theatrical movie market generated RMB51.832 billion in box office revenue in 2025, equivalent to approximately US$7.2 billion, while the broader film-industry value chain was estimated at RMB817.259 billion.[62][58]
Forecast & CAGR
Grand View Research forecasts China’s movie and entertainment market to grow at a 9.4% compound annual growth rate from 2026 to 2033. The forecast covers the broader movie and entertainment market rather than theatrical box office alone.[63]
Market share & regions
Domestic films accounted for 79.67% of China’s 2025 box office, while imported films held 20.33%. Outside urban cinemas, 264 rural digital cinema circuits operated 44,000 mobile screening teams and generated approximately 394 million admissions in 2025.[62][2]
Segmentation
China produced 764 films in 2025, including 511 feature films. Animation was a major segment, generating more than RMB25 billion in annual box office, while comedy, patriotic drama and crime or suspense films also ranked among the most commercially visible genres.[61][17]
Key players & concentration
The three largest cinema circuits—Wanda Cinema Line, China Film Cinema Line and China Film South Cinema Line—held a combined 38.34% market share in the second half of 2025. Major listed ecosystem participants include China Film, Wanda Cinema, Maoyan Entertainment and China Ruyi.[16][2]
Pricing
The average movie ticket price fell for the second consecutive year to RMB41.9 in 2025. Subsidies and promotional campaigns during major release periods contributed to lower prices, including an average of RMB36.8 on the first day of the 2026 May Day holiday.[16][64]
Trends, drivers & challenges
The 2025 recovery was supported by stronger domestic content, major holiday releases and improved attendance: box office rose 21.95% and admissions reached 1.238 billion. At the same time, short-video platforms, micro-dramas, uneven consumer spending and reliance on a small number of blockbuster releases remain structural challenges.[62][64]
Consumer behavior & competition
Average attendance per screening rose to 24.6 viewers in 2025 from 15.4 in 2024, reaching a five-year high. Competition is increasingly shaped by domestic blockbusters, holiday scheduling, cinema technology and online ticketing and recommendation platforms.[2]
Regulation
China’s film sector operates under the national Film Administration framework, including approval and administration rules for film production, distribution and screening. In February 2025, the National Film Administration issued a revised industry standard covering cinema ticketing-management systems and measurement methods.[65][14]
Latest news
The latest available 2026 market update reported RMB17.35 billion in Chinese box office during the first half of 2026. The 2025 full-year recovery also established a stronger base, with domestic films producing RMB412.93 billion in box office and 51 films exceeding RMB100 million in revenue.[16][62]

02 Ranking

Top 7 Companies in the Chinese Movie Industry

The leading companies in the chinese movie industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 11, 2026 · Next review December 11, 2026

Verdict

China Film Group leads Gitnux's 2026 chinese movie ranking with an Overall score of 9.9, with 35.37% of domestic-film box office from 2025 releases and five domestic top-ten titles. Wanda Film is the highest-ranked cinema operator at 9.7, with the largest cinema circuit by box office and screen count in China.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in film production & distribution

    China Film Group

    CN

    Ranked #1 · 9.9 · Film production & distribution

    Why we picked it: It spans film production, distribution, exhibition, and technology, with quantified 2025 domestic box office impact.

    See in ranking ↓Visit zgdygf.com ↗

  2. Leader in cinema operations

    Wanda Film

    CN

    Ranked #2 · 9.7 · Cinema operations

    Why we picked it: Its cinema operation and investment footprint is measured by box office and screens across its circuit.

    See in ranking ↓Visit wandafilm.com ↗

  3. #3 overall

    Ruyi Film Entertainment

    CN

    Ranked #3 · 7.8 · Cinema operations

    Why we picked it: Its directly operated footprint and 2025 share provide a clear basis for cinema-market presence.

    See in ranking ↓Visit ruyifilm.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Pick 2 is the highest-ranked company in the top 5 that adds a new segment; no further segment places in the top 5, so pick 3 follows rank.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 7 companies in the chinese movie industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

China Film Group

Film production & distribution · CN

9.9
2

Wanda Film

Cinema operations · CN

9.7
3

Ruyi Film Entertainment

Cinema operations · CN

7.8
4

Beijing Enlight Media

Film production & distribution · CN

7.8
5

Hengdian Entertainment

Cinema operations · CN

7.6
6

Bona Film Group

Film investment, production, distribution and cinemas · CN

7.3
7

Shanghai Film

Film distribution, cinema investment and IP operations · CN

7.0

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 11, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 11). Top 7 companies in the chinese movie industry. In Chinese Movie Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/chinese-movie-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Comparison

Revenue of the largest chinese movie companies

Wanda Film leads with $13.6B in annual revenue (group level, converted to USD).

Wanda Film$13.6B
China Film Group$677M
Hengdian Entertainment$322M
Bona Film Group$175M
Shanghai Film$129M
source-verifiedcninfo.com.cn · static.cninfo.com.cn · financialfilings.com2025

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

This section tracks AI enablement in production and restoration alongside measured cloud, integration, and governance pressures. It also provides cinema-ticketing scale via China Film’s platform user base of 19.9836 million by the first half of 2026.

AI in the chinese movie industry

  • 265 billion yuan was the estimated market size of China’s AI-plus-film-and-television sector in 2024.[1]
  • 4% was the estimated penetration rate of AI applications in China’s film and television industry in 2024.[1]
  • 90 Hong Kong films had undergone 4K restoration using AI technology by 2025 in the China Film Archive, Douyin and Volcano Engine classic-film restoration project.[2]
  • Under one month was the reported time from script approval to launch for one AI-generated microdrama series produced in China in 2026.[3]
  • 100,000 yuan was the reported all-in cost of one AI-generated microdrama series produced by a Beijing company in 2026.[3]
  • 5,000 novels and scripts had been evaluated by iQIYI’s Script Workshop AI service by 2025 in China.[2]

Digital Transformation in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 94% of media companies reported gains from digital-transformation efforts in 2025, the highest result among industries surveyed globally.[4]
  • 76% of publisher respondents planned to encourage staff to behave more like creators in 2026, reflecting a shift toward creator-oriented digital publishing globally.[2]
  • 62% of media respondents said companies are not investing enough in future business models in 2026, indicating a significant transformation funding gap globally.[2]
  • 44% of surveyed news publishers said their newsroom AI initiatives were showing promising results in 2026, while 42% described results as limited globally.[2]

Technology Adoption in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 76% of publishers were piloting or experimenting with AI on business-side functions in 2025, while 18% were actively deploying AI across multiple functions.[5]
  • 69% of digital-publishing stakeholders expected journalists to have a voice on social media in 2026, according to a survey of 163 publishing-sector participants.[6]
  • 22% of publishers reported not using AI for content creation and distribution in 2025, based on a survey of U.S. and UK publishers.[7]
  • 30% of publishers reported using AI for content optimization and personalization in 2025, based on a survey of 50 U.S. and UK publishers.[7]

Cloud Computing in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 98% of media respondents expected a majority of their workloads to be cloud-native within 12 months, according to a global media and entertainment survey conducted in 2023.[8]
  • 43% of media respondents cited insufficient internal skills for edge computing or specific cloud environments as a major multicloud challenge in 2023.[8]
  • 55% of media respondents identified complexity as their biggest multicloud challenge, including integration, scaling and maintenance issues, in 2023.[8]
  • 39% of media respondents identified cloud-sprawl costs, data-egress charges and unpredictable pricing as a major multicloud pain point in 2023.[8]
  • 35.4% of media and entertainment respondents identified migration to a multicloud environment as a technology trend driving observability requirements in 2025.[9]

Big Data in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 27.8% of media and entertainment respondents identified integrating business applications into workflows as a technology trend driving observability requirements in 2025.[9]
  • 35.4% of media and entertainment respondents identified AI adoption as a technology trend driving observability requirements in 2025, reflecting growing use of data-intensive systems.[9]
  • 56% of surveyed publishers said unifying data across platforms was a growing challenge in 2025, based on responses from 50 U.S. and UK publishers.[7]
  • 39% of publishing-sector stakeholders identified data and analytics capabilities as an investment priority for the year ahead in 2025.[10]

Blockchain in the chinese movie industry

  • 5 technology categories were included in the standards system being developed for China’s LED virtual-production digital-asset platform in 2025.[11]
  • 3 technologies—copyright registration, blockchain evidence preservation and digital watermarking—were combined in a Chinese film-industry copyright-protection mechanism in 2025.[11]

IoT in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 32.9% of media and entertainment respondents identified IoT adoption as a technology trend driving observability requirements in 2025.[9]
  • 39% of media-industry respondents had already implemented IoT and 5G initiatives in 2025, while 34% were in the process of adopting them across EMEA.[12]
  • 90% of global media and entertainment enterprises were already using IoT technology in 2024, according to a GSMA Intelligence survey across 21 countries.[13]
  • 33% of media and entertainment organizations identified IoT adoption as a strategy or trend driving their need for observability in 2024, versus 27% overall.[9]
  • 43% of global media and entertainment enterprises rated IoT extremely important to digital-transformation success in 2024, according to a GSMA Intelligence survey.[13]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

This section quantifies how industry reporting and network growth support planning and measurement, linking screens, admissions, and production counts. It also notes a data-quality and integration friction point: 64% cited difficulty integrating data sources into AI tools.

Business intelligence in the chinese movie industry

  • China’s 2025 film-industry value-chain estimate was built using the fifth national economic census, enterprise counts, box-office changes and spillover effects.[14]
  • Wanda Cinema consolidated 30 operating regions into 10 regions in 2024 to improve response speed and decision precision.[15]
  • Wanda Cinema organized its 2024 management system around vertical functions including distribution, marketing, non-ticket products, development and projection technology.[15]
  • China’s national screen count exceeded 90,000 in the first half of 2025.[16]
  • China’s 2024 domestic film production totaled 873 films, providing a national supply-side indicator for portfolio and content planning.[17]
  • China’s 2025 first-half cinema network added 546 cinemas, taking the national operating total above 13,000.[16]

Data analytics in the chinese movie industry

  • Hengdian Cinema’s 2024 film-related revenue was 1.769 billion yuan, down 19.58% year on year.[17]
  • China’s 2023 box office, admissions and average occupancy recovered to 85.7%, 75.2% and 76.1% respectively of 2019 levels.[18]
  • Domestic films generated 334.39 billion yuan in China’s 2024 box office data?[17]
  • China’s 2024 national box office was 42.502 billion yuan, a 22.6% year-on-year decline measured by industry reporting.[17]
  • Hengdian Cinema’s 2024 box office revenue excluding service fees was 1.657 billion yuan, down 20.51% year on year.[17]
  • China’s 2025 cinema admissions reached approximately 1.2 billion according to data from Maoyan and the China Film Administration.[19]

Data Quality in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 63% of publishers surveyed in 2023 reported low data quality as a challenge when collecting customer data.[5]
  • 64% of publishers surveyed globally in March 2026 identified difficulty integrating data sources into AI tools as their greatest data challenge.[5]
  • 75% of publishers surveyed globally in March 2026 said incomplete, inconsistent or outdated data affected the quality or usefulness of their AI tools.[5]
  • 52% of publishers surveyed in 2023 reported low data quality as a challenge when segmenting customer data.[5]

Data Governance in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 28% of European media organisations surveyed in 2025 reported having a fully implemented data strategy.[20]
  • 72% of European media organisations surveyed in 2025 considered data very important to their daily operations.[20]
  • 28% of European media organisations surveyed in 2025 reported having a partially implemented data strategy.[20]
  • 37% of European media organisations surveyed in 2025 reported having no data strategy.[20]
  • 46% of European media organisations surveyed in 2025 had a dedicated data team, while 34% had no dedicated data team.[20]
  • 92% of European media stakeholders surveyed in 2025 required robust data and privacy protection before joining a shared media data space.[20]

KPIs in the chinese movie industry

  • Hengdian Cinema’s 2024 admissions decreased 20.01% year on year.[17]
  • Sixteen Chinese films exceeded 500 million yuan in box office in 2024.[17]
  • China’s 2024 national box office was 42.502 billion yuan.[21]
  • Hengdian Cinema’s 2024 cinema-chain box office revenue declined 20.51% year on year.[17]
  • China had 90,968 cinema screens at the end of 2024.[22]
  • China’s premium-large-format auditoriums averaged 24.6 admissions per show in 2025.[16]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

This section highlights demand and monetization shifts, including premium large-format participation and pricing gaps. Premium large-format auditoriums accounted for 9.4% of China’s box office revenue in 2025, with 24.6 admissions per screening.

Growth in the chinese movie industry

  • China produced 873 films in 2024, including 612 narrative feature films.[17]
  • Premium large-format auditoriums accounted for 9.4% of China’s box office revenue in 2025.[2]
  • Maoyan’s revenue reached 2.4722 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, up from 2.1709 billion yuan a year earlier.[23]
  • Maoyan’s entertainment-content-services revenue increased from 1.0241 billion yuan in the first half of 2024 to 1.2088 billion yuan in the first half of 2025.[23]
  • Premium large-format auditoriums recorded an average attendance of 24.6 admissions per screening in China in 2025.[2]
  • China’s film-industry chain output value reached 817.25 billion yuan in 2025.[16]

Differentiation in the chinese movie industry

  • The top ten domestic films in China in 2024 included eight films in which Maoyan participated in production or distribution.[24]
  • The premium large-format share of China’s box office reached its highest level in five years at 9.4% in 2025.[2]
  • Large-format auditoriums charged an average ticket price of 56.3 yuan in China in 2025, versus 41.9 yuan for the overall market.[2]
  • Sixteen films exceeded 500 million yuan in China’s 2024 box office.[17]
  • The first seated virtual-reality screening auditorium under a national Chinese cinema circuit launched in Zhengzhou in 2025.[2]
  • Maoyan’s 63 domestic-film projects generated approximately 23.2 billion yuan in cumulative box office in 2024.[24]

Mergers and acquisitions in the chinese movie industry

  • Wanda acquired Legendary Entertainment for up to 3.5 billion US dollars in 2016.[25]
  • Legendary’s films had generated more than 12 billion US dollars in worldwide box office before Wanda’s 2016 acquisition.[25]
  • Legendary’s planned film The Great Wall was described in 2016 as the largest film shot entirely in China for global distribution.[25]
  • Wanda acquired AMC Theatres for 2.6 billion US dollars in 2012, expanding its Chinese film-exhibition business into North America.[26]
  • The Legendary acquisition was valued at approximately 23 billion yuan in 2016.[25]

Strategic partnerships in the chinese movie industry

  • Maoyan collaborated with Chaoyang Culture and Tourism on a Demon Slayer city-walk event in 2025.[23]
  • Maoyan collaborated with Baidu, Tencent and Douyin on AI applications for several films in 2024.[24]
  • Maoyan collaborated with more than 4,000 cinema ticketing-system partners in China in 2025.[23]
  • Maoyan partnered with Chaoyang Culture and Tourism to create a Meeting Hei themed park in 2025.[23]
  • Maoyan established strategic partnerships with Universal and Disney covering cinema distribution channels and proprietary intellectual-property channels in 2025.[23]
  • Maoyan jointly operated film-promotion and IP-derivative projects for The Legend of Hei 2 and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle in 2025.[23]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

This section shows training and workforce engagement signals, including Wanda Cinema’s 438 training sessions in 2024. It also captures workplace arrangement patterns globally, such as 84% of UK publisher staff working partly or fully from home in 2025.

Remote Work in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across independent UK publishers, 42% of staff worked fully from home in 2025.[27]
  • Across entertainment and media job postings, 369,000 new remote-job listings were recorded globally in 2024.[28]
  • In the U.S. entertainment and media sector, 37.4% of new job postings were remote in 2024.[28]
  • Across independent UK publishers, 84% of staff worked partly or fully from home in 2025.[27]

Hybrid Work in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 38% of full-time Australian journalists worked in a hybrid combination of home and office, studio or newsroom in 2022, up from 8% before the pandemic.[29]
  • Across independent UK publishers, 42% of staff had hybrid working arrangements in 2025.[27]
  • Across independent UK publishers, 58% of organizations required full-time staff to work a minimum number of days in the office in 2025.[27]
  • 42% of journalists surveyed globally worked in hybrid arrangements in 2024, compared with 24% working in-office and 34% fully remote.[30]
  • 52% of newsroom leaders worldwide said hybrid and flexible working had made recruitment easier in 2023; 28% reported no change and 15% said recruitment became harder.[31]

Upskilling in the chinese movie industry

  • 13 schedule-related training sessions were held by Wanda Cinema in China in 2024.[17]
  • 62 operations-training sessions were held by Wanda Cinema in China in 2024.[17]
  • 20 safety-training sessions were held by Wanda Cinema in China in 2024.[17]
  • 8,394 person-attendances were recorded in Wanda Cinema’s in-person training in China in 2024.[17]
  • 438 training sessions were organized by Wanda Cinema in China in 2024, including operational, marketing, safety, functional and other business training.[17]

Employee Engagement in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • Creative and media employees scored 7.67 out of 10 for engagement in CultureMonkey’s Q3 2026 benchmark.[32]
  • Creative and media employees rated autonomy 8.62 out of 10 in CultureMonkey’s Q3 2026 benchmark.[32]
  • Creative and media employees rated work-life balance 7.29 out of 10 in CultureMonkey’s Q3 2026 benchmark.[32]
  • Creative and media employees recorded an average eNPS of +22 in CultureMonkey’s Q3 2026 benchmark.[32]
  • Creative and media employees rated meaningful work 8.76 out of 10 in CultureMonkey’s Q3 2026 benchmark.[32]

Change Management in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 67% of academic publishers identified modernizing systems and workflows as their top strategic priority in 2025, while 21% actively embraced AI as a transformative opportunity.[33]
  • 74% of media and publishing leaders agreed or strongly agreed that their company culture encouraged change and innovation in 2022.[34]
  • 92% of media and publishing leaders agreed or strongly agreed that their companies had a clear vision of the kind of company they needed to become in 2022.[34]
  • 25% of surveyed news workers at one US newsroom thought management had communicated its goals effectively during organizational change.[35]
  • 63% of academic publishers cited inefficient workflows and processes as their biggest internal barrier to change in 2025, while 85% agreed that modernizing production workflows should be a business priority.[33]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

This section connects customer acquisition volume to attendance per screening and ticket pricing. It cites 2025 attendance improvement—average attendance per screening reached 24.6 viewers—and provides earlier baseline contrast from 2024 levels.

Customer experience in the chinese movie industry

  • 33 holiday movie seasons had been covered by China’s audience-satisfaction survey by the 2019 Chinese New Year period.[11]
  • 7 viewers attended each screening on average in China in 2024, down from 10 in 2023.[23]
  • RMB42.5 billion was China’s theatrical movie-market box office in 2024, down nearly 23% year on year.[23]
  • 285 films had been covered extensively by China’s audience-satisfaction survey by early 2019, with another 129 films receiving less extensive analysis.[11]
  • RMB42.3 was China’s average movie-ticket price in 2023, up 0.5% from RMB42.1 in 2022.[36]

Customer retention in the chinese movie industry

  • China’s 2024 cinema audience totaled 1.01 billion, down 23.1% from 1.3 billion in 2023.[23]
  • The proportion of Chinese moviegoers aged 20–24 fell from 30% in 2018 to 17% in 2024.[37]
  • China’s total theatrical box office declined from RMB54.915 billion in 2023 to RMB42.5 billion in 2024.[23]
  • 84% of Chinese moviegoers attended because of films released during popular box-office schedules in 2024.[23]
  • The top 10 films accounted for more than half of China’s box-office sales in 2023, indicating strong concentration of repeat demand around major releases.[38]

Customer acquisition in the chinese movie industry

  • China recorded 1.01 billion cinema admissions in 2024, providing the market’s annual customer-acquisition volume.[23]
  • The population of Chinese moviegoers aged 19–24 represented 31.9% of all moviegoers in 2020, up from 23.4% in 2019.[39]
  • China’s 2023 online entertainment-ticketing revenue at Maoyan rose 111.5% to RMB2.2586 billion from RMB1.0677 billion in 2022.[23]
  • 84% of Chinese cinema audiences attended because of popular release schedules in 2024, highlighting the acquisition effect of eventized theatrical windows.[23]
  • Women represented 52.3% of China’s moviegoing audience in 2019, according to Maoyan’s audience data.[39]

Customer loyalty in the chinese movie industry

  • China’s average cinema attendance per screening declined 30%, from 10 people in 2023 to 7 in 2024.[23]
  • China’s total moviegoing audience fell 23.1%, from 1.3 billion admissions in 2023 to 1.01 billion in 2024.[23]
  • Chinese moviegoers aged over 35 represented one-third of the cinema audience in 2024, compared with 20% in 2018.[37]
  • 84% of Chinese audiences attended during popular release schedules in 2024, linking loyalty and attendance strongly to event periods.[23]
  • Chinese moviegoers under 25 represented nearly 40% of the audience in 2018 but only 21% in 2024.[37]

Lead generation in the chinese movie industry

  • More than 285.1 billion movie-related video views were recorded on Douyin in China under the 2024 China Movie Marketing White Paper.[40]
  • 226 films released in China during 2024–2025 and 245,890 Weibo videos were used to study user-generated video effects on movie performance.[41]
  • 957 Chinese films released from 2012 to 2019 were analyzed for the effects of Maoyan and Douban marketing activity on box office.[2]
  • 98% of films grossing more than US$100 million in China were promoted on Douyin, according to the 2024 China Movie Marketing White Paper.[40]
  • 23,998 marketer-generated posts concerning 356 films released in China were analyzed in a study of Weibo-based movie marketing.[42]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

This section quantifies social-distribution effects and branded-content outcomes with measurable interactions and video-view volumes. For example, movie-related videos viewed on Douyin exceeded 285.1 billion in 2024.

Marketing in the chinese movie industry

  • The Maoyan online entertainment-ticketing business generated RMB2.2586 billion in revenue in 2023, up 111.5% year on year.[23]
  • Ne Zha 2’s user-generated-content conversion rate exceeded the industry average by 3.2 times, according to a campaign case study.[40]
  • The Ne Zha 2 campaign produced more than 12 million discussions and over 1.8 billion interactions on Chinese social platforms.[40]
  • 23,998 marketer-generated Weibo posts about 356 Chinese films were examined to measure emotional appeals in movie marketing.[42]
  • Digital advertising accounted for more than 50% of total film expenditure in China, according to research on Chinese movie marketing.[2]

Digital marketing in the chinese movie industry

  • The Ne Zha 2 campaign generated more than 1.8 billion social-platform interactions in China.[40]
  • 245,890 Weibo videos concerning 226 Chinese films released during 2024–2025 were used to study user-generated-video effects.[41]
  • More than 285.1 billion movie-related videos were viewed on Douyin in China in 2024.[40]
  • 23,998 Weibo marketer-generated contents concerning 356 films released in China were analyzed in research on emotional appeals.[42]
  • 959 films and users of Douban and Maoyan were analyzed in research on social-media effects in the Chinese film market.[43]

Branding in the chinese movie industry

  • YOLO earned RMB3.46 billion in China in 2024, making it the year’s highest-grossing film cited in the market assessment.[23]
  • The Ne Zha 2 campaign generated more than 12 million discussions, strengthening the film’s branded cultural visibility in China.[40]
  • Boonie Bears: Time Twist earned RMB2.006 billion in China in 2024, ranking among the five highest-grossing films.[23]
  • The top 10 films accounted for more than half of China’s box-office sales in 2023, showing strong brand concentration around major releases.[38]
  • Successor earned RMB3.327 billion in China in 2024, ranking among the year’s top films.[23]

Social media in the chinese movie industry

  • 245,890 Weibo videos related to 226 Chinese films released during 2024–2025 were analyzed in research on user-generated-video effects.[41]
  • The Ne Zha 2 campaign generated over 1.8 billion social-platform interactions in China.[40]
  • The Ne Zha 2 campaign generated more than 12 million discussions on Chinese social platforms.[40]
  • More than 110,000 online celebrity contributions supported the Ne Zha 2 campaign in China.[40]
  • The Ne Zha 2 campaign generated more than 730 million interactions from online celebrity contributions.[40]

Influencer Marketing in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 56% of brands said generating user-generated content was the main purpose of their influencer campaigns in 2024, versus 23% citing sales generation.[44]
  • $37.1 billion was projected for U.S. creator advertising spend in 2025, including sponsored content, paid amplification and planned creator adjacencies.[45]
  • 17% of media-agency respondents in a 2026 survey said they partnered with influencers to create content for retail media globally.[46]
  • 96% of media-agency respondents in a 2026 survey said social media was used for creator-brand partnerships, making it the most-used channel globally.[46]
  • 69% of brands using influencer marketing reported using TikTok in 2024, compared with 47% using Instagram, 33% YouTube and 28% Facebook.[44]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

This section emphasizes cinema network expansion and utilization constraints, including occupancy and new-cinema throughput. It reports China’s nationwide occupancy rate was 5.8% in 2024 and that 1,026 new cinemas opened in 2024.

Process optimization in the chinese movie industry

  • 1,026 new cinemas opened nationwide in 2024, a 19.9% year-on-year increase, as Chinese exhibitors continued optimizing cinema-network expansion.[17]
  • 541 cinemas operated in Hengdian Entertainment’s national cinema circuit at the end of 2024, including 454 directly operated and 87 franchised sites.[17]
  • 337 new cinemas opened in second-tier Chinese cities in 2023, followed by 219 in third-tier cities.[17]
  • 29 asset-linked cinemas were newly opened by Hengdian Entertainment in 2024 as the company prioritized higher-quality projects and optimized its cinema-development strategy.[17]
  • 482 of the cinemas opened in China in 2024 had 501–1,000 seats, the largest seating category among new cinemas.[17]

Operational efficiency in the chinese movie industry

  • China’s nationwide cinema occupancy rate was 5.8% in 2024, down from 7.9% in 2023.[17]
  • China’s 2024 average cinema attendance per screening was 7.1 people, down by more than 20% from 2023.[17]
  • Directly operated Hengdian cinemas generated RMB14.49 billion in 2024 box office from 2,895 screens.[17]
  • Only 20% of Chinese cinemas exceeded RMB5 million in annual box office in 2024, a share more than 10% lower than the previous year.[17]
  • The number of Chinese cinema circuits generating more than RMB1 billion in annual box office fell from 15 in 2023 to 11 in 2024.[17]

Quality management in the chinese movie industry

  • LED cinemas generated nearly RMB100 million in Chinese box office in 2024, more than 50% above the previous year.[17]
  • 79 films exceeded RMB100 million in Chinese box office in 2024, including 55 domestic productions.[17]
  • Domestic films generated RMB33.439 billion, or 78.68% of China’s RMB42.502 billion box office in 2024.[17]
  • Special-format screens generated RMB1.866 billion in China in 2024, or 4.85% of national box office.[17]
  • China’s 2024 urban-cinema admissions totaled 1.01 billion, reflecting demand for commercially viable, high-quality releases.[17]

Supply chain in the chinese movie industry

  • China’s 2023 market had 12,700 operating cinemas and 86,310 screens, continuing to maintain the world’s largest screen base.[17]
  • China built 857 new cinemas in 2023, representing 3.5% year-on-year growth.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema’s 2024 domestic advertising business generated RMB129.872 million in revenue and RMB3.082 million in costs.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema’s 2024 domestic food-and-merchandise business generated RMB909.975 million in revenue and RMB304.050 million in costs.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema’s 2024 domestic cinema business reported RMB5.491 billion in film-screening revenue and RMB5.838 billion in corresponding costs.[17]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the media and publishing sector (sector benchmark)

  • 54% of academic publishers outsourced the majority of typesetting to offshore vendors in 2025, based on a global survey concentrated in the United Kingdom and United States.[47]
  • 28% of academic publishers outsourced the majority of proofreading to offshore vendors in 2025, based on a global survey concentrated in the United Kingdom and United States.[47]
  • 37% of academic publishers outsourced the majority of copyediting to offshore vendors in 2025, based on a global survey concentrated in the United Kingdom and United States.[47]
  • 65% of surveyed academic publishers were concerned about offshoring work, according to Deanta’s global academic-publishing survey; the survey year is not stated on the source page.[48]
  • 82% of surveyed academic publishers offshored work, according to Deanta’s global academic-publishing survey; the survey year is not stated on the source page.[48]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

This section ties pricing outcomes to revenue seasonality and distributor settlement dynamics. It reports the 2025 average ticket price as RMB41.9 and that 25% of distributors reduced minimum settlement prices in 2024 to lower consumer prices.

Pricing strategy in the chinese movie industry

  • Approximately 25% of Chinese film distributors voluntarily reduced minimum settlement prices in 2024 to give consumers lower prices.[17]
  • The 2024 Chinese May Day holiday period generated RMB1.527 billion in box office.[17]
  • Holiday periods represented 31.8% of China’s 2024 annual box office, an increase of 8.5 percentage points year on year.[17]
  • The 2024 Chinese Spring Festival period generated RMB8.016 billion in box office.[17]
  • The 2024 Chinese Qingming holiday period generated RMB842 million in box office.[17]

Cost reduction in the chinese movie industry

  • Hengdian Entertainment reported a 2024 net loss attributable to shareholders of RMB96 million as it reduced risk by closing or transferring underperforming cinemas.[17]
  • Hengdian Entertainment’s 2024 film-screening and related-derivative revenue fell 19.58% year on year to RMB1.769 billion amid industry adjustment.[17]
  • Hengdian Entertainment reported RMB1.971 billion in 2024 operating revenue, down 16.07% year on year.[17]
  • China’s non-holiday and non-major-period box office totaled RMB14.85 billion in 2024, up 23.0% year on year and helping diversify revenue beyond peak periods.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema’s 2024 domestic advertising costs were RMB3.082 million against RMB129.872 million of revenue.[17]

Profitability in the chinese movie industry

  • Wanda Cinema’s 2024 overseas advertising revenue was RMB933.744 million against RMB456.561 million of costs.[17]
  • Domestic films captured 78.68% of China’s 2024 box office, or RMB33.439 billion, indicating the market’s concentration of theatrical revenue in domestic content.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema’s 2024 overseas film-screening revenue was RMB1.196 billion against RMB1.440 billion of costs.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema’s 2024 overseas food-and-merchandise revenue was RMB624.596 million against RMB138.401 million of costs.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema’s 2024 domestic film-screening revenue was RMB5.491 billion against RMB5.838 billion of costs, implying negative gross contribution before other items.[17]

Financial planning in the chinese movie industry

  • China’s 2024 average ticket price was RMB42.1, providing a key revenue assumption for cinema and film-investment budgets.[17]
  • China’s 2024 national admissions totaled 1.01 billion, down from 1.298 billion in 2023.[17]
  • Hengdian Entertainment’s 2024 film-screening and related-derivative revenue was RMB1.769 billion, down 19.58% year on year.[17]
  • China’s national screen base reached 90,968 at the end of 2024, after a net addition of 4,658 screens during the year.[17]
  • China had 79 films exceeding RMB100 million in box office in 2024, including 55 domestic films, informing production and acquisition portfolio planning.[17]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

This section links market output to value-chain accounting and spillover activity. It states China’s 2025 film-industry value chain reached 817.259 billion yuan, including production, distribution, exhibition, and related activities.

Product development in the chinese movie industry

  • The 2025 Chinese film market generated 51.832 billion yuan in box office, supporting continued development of large-scale domestic film products.[49]
  • China’s core film-industry output reached 226.618 billion yuan in 2025 across production, distribution and exhibition.[14]
  • China’s 2025 film-industry value chain reached 817.259 billion yuan, including production, distribution, exhibition and related activities.[14]
  • Film-related spillover output in China reached 339.095 billion yuan in 2025, including intellectual-property products, tourism and festival economies.[14]
  • China Film Co., Ltd. described its CINITY and China Film Barco businesses as part of a domestic film-technology chain integrating research, production, sales and service in 2024.[50]

Product lifecycle in the chinese movie industry

  • Domestic films accounted for 33.439 billion yuan, or 78.68%, of China’s 2024 box office.[17]
  • China’s 2024 cinema admissions fell to about 1.0 billion from 1.3 billion in 2023.[51]
  • China’s 2024 film box office was 42.502 billion yuan, down 22.6% year on year, indicating a contraction in the theatrical market cycle.[17]
  • Sixteen films earned more than 500 million yuan each in China in 2024, compared with 29 films in 2023.[17]
  • China recorded approximately 1.2 billion cinema admissions in 2025.[19]

After-sales in the chinese movie industry

  • Hengdian Cinema recorded 45.9922 million admissions in 2024.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema said in 2024 that it was converting cinema lobbies into entertainment spaces combining consumption, entertainment and social activities.[17]
  • Hengdian Cinema’s 2024 admissions declined 20.01% year on year, while the company said the decline was below the national average.[17]
  • Hengdian Cinema’s 2024 cinema-chain box office revenue was 1.657 billion yuan excluding service fees.[17]
  • Wanda Cinema stated that its lobby-space strategy was intended to increase movie-fan and member retention in 2024.[17]

Value proposition in the chinese movie industry

  • The Chinese micro-drama market grew 34.9% year on year in 2024.[22]
  • The 2025 Chinese film value chain produced a box-office multiplier of approximately 1:15.77 for broader economic activity.[14]
  • China’s 2024 total box office reached 42.5 billion yuan, equivalent to approximately 5.91 billion U.S. dollars.[21]
  • China’s 2025 film-related spillover output reached 339.095 billion yuan through tourism, intellectual-property products and festival activity.[14]
  • Premium-large-format auditoriums in China averaged 24.6 admissions per show in 2025.[16]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

This section quantifies operational energy and maintenance effects from equipment upgrades in exhibition. Wanda reported 2,697 laser-equipment units upgraded in 2024 and a 30% reduction in comprehensive equipment failure rates after upgrades.

Sustainability in the chinese movie industry

  • 2,697 laser-equipment units were upgraded in 2024 at Wanda Cinema venues in China to support lower-energy operations.[50]
  • 13,238 cinemas were operating in mainland China in 2024, according to Wanda Cinema’s cited industry data.[50]
  • 30% was the reduction in comprehensive equipment failure rates after Wanda Cinema’s laser-equipment upgrades in China in 2024.[50]
  • 5 years was the extension of equipment service life reported after Wanda Cinema’s laser-equipment upgrades in China in 2024.[50]
  • 706 directly operated cinemas and 6,140 screens were operating domestically for Wanda Cinema at December 31, 2024.[50]

CSR in the chinese movie industry

  • Nearly 400 domestic films were screened at Wanda Cinema’s Chinese cinemas in 2024 to support domestic cultural production.[50]
  • 13.88 billion yuan in taxes was paid by Wanda Cinema in 2024 as part of its corporate social responsibility commitments in China.[50]
  • 80 blood donors, stem-cell donors, organ donors and family members attended a Wanda Cinema public-benefit screening in Nanning in October 2024.[50]
  • Nearly 50 Chinese films were screened by Wanda’s Australian and New Zealand HOYTS circuit in 2024.[50]
  • 1,349 safety inspections were conducted across Wanda Cinema venues in China in 2024 to protect customers and employees.[50]

Carbon footprint in the chinese movie industry

  • About 200,000 tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent was estimated for China’s film industry’s annual production under an overseas estimation method in 2021.[1]
  • 30% was the reduction in comprehensive failure rates after Wanda Cinema replaced or upgraded laser equipment in 2024, supporting lower material and energy use.[50]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

This section quantifies cross-border activity via imported-film box office share and co-production geography. Imported films accounted for 21.32% of China’s 2024 box office, totaling 90.63 billion yuan.

Globalization in the chinese movie industry

  • Wanda agreed to acquire Legendary Entertainment for up to 3.5 billion US dollars in 2016, described as China’s largest cross-border cultural acquisition at the time.[25]
  • 90.63 billion yuan, or 21.32% of China’s 2024 box office, came from imported films.[17]
  • The co-production The Shadow’s Edge earned 191 million US dollars globally in 2025, with 7.33% generated outside China.[2]
  • China had approximately 2,691 foreign-invested film-related enterprises in 2025.[2]
  • 17 Chinese-foreign co-productions were registered for project approval in China during the second half of 2025.[16]

Cultural adaptation in the chinese movie industry

  • The China-US animated co-production Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass was among the Chinese-foreign co-productions released in China during the second half of 2025.[16]
  • The average number of co-production partners for Chinese films exceeding 100 million yuan in box office was 13.57 in 2025.[58]
  • The Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 earned about 60 million US dollars overseas while generating approximately 2.15 billion US dollars domestically in 2025.[59]
  • The Chinese-Russian co-production Red Silk earned 7.982 million US dollars in Russia compared with 1.819 million US dollars in China during the second half of 2025.[16]
  • 78.68% of China’s 2024 box office came from domestic films, indicating strong audience preference for locally produced stories.[17]

Supplier management in the chinese movie industry

  • Maoyan collaborated with Baidu, Tencent and Douyin on AI applications for film projects in 2024.[24]
  • The five largest suppliers accounted for 78.34% of the same Chinese film company’s purchases in 2024.[24]
  • The five largest customers represented 91.12% of that company’s turnover in 2024.[24]
  • The largest supplier accounted for 27.22% of one Chinese film company’s purchases in 2024.[24]
  • Maoyan’s ticketing-system partnerships covered more than 4,000 cinemas in China in 2025.[23]

Stakeholder management in the chinese movie industry

  • Urban cinemas in China recorded more than one billion moviegoer visits in 2024.[21]
  • The average movie ticket price in China was 41.9 yuan in 2025, marking a second consecutive annual decline.[2]
  • China had 3,667 Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan-invested film-related enterprises in 2025.[2]
  • Average attendance per screening in China rose to 8.7 admissions in 2025.[2]
  • China added more than 4,600 cinema screens in 2024, bringing the national total to 90,968.[21]

Distribution channels in the chinese movie industry

  • Maoyan distributed 16 films that generated a combined 6.158 billion yuan in China during the second half of 2025.[16]
  • China’s total box office reached 29.231 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, up 22.91% year on year.[23]
  • Maoyan’s ticketing-system services covered more than 4,000 Chinese cinemas in 2025.[23]
  • China’s total online movie-ticket sales increased 17.05% year on year in the first half of 2025.[23]
  • Online movie ticketing accounted for more than 80% of China’s movie market in 2017.[60]

Key questions about the chinese movie industry

What was China’s theatrical movie market size in 2025, and how much did it grow year on year?
China’s 2025 theatrical movie market reached RMB51.832 billion in box office revenue, up 21.95% year on year. Domestic productions led the rebound, and domestic films held 79.67% box office share in 2025.
What is the outlook for growth after 2025, and what does the forecast scope cover?
Grand View Research forecasts China’s movie and entertainment market to grow at a 9.4% CAGR from 2026 to 2033. The forecast covers the broader movie and entertainment market rather than theatrical box office alone.
Which companies lead the chinese movie industry?
China Film Group leads Gitnux's 2026 chinese movie ranking with an Overall score of 9.9, with 35.37% of domestic-film box office from 2025 releases and five domestic top-ten titles. Wanda Film is the highest-ranked cinema operator at 9.7, with the largest cinema circuit by box office and screen count in China.
What technology shifts show up in the Chinese film industry around AI and media tooling?
The AI-plus-film-and-television sector was estimated at 265 billion yuan in 2024, with AI application penetration at 4% in 2024. By 2025, 90 Hong Kong films underwent 4K restoration using AI technology in the China Film Archive project.
How concentrated is the cinema-network market structure in 2025, and what portion does it capture?
The three largest cinema circuits—Wanda Cinema Line, China Film Cinema Line, and China Film South Cinema Line—held a combined 38.34% market share in the second half of 2025. In the same year, cinema screens reached 93,187 in 2025.
How do attendance and ticket pricing differ as levers in 2025, and what are the 2025 benchmarks?
Attendance improved more than pricing in 2025: admissions reached 1.238 billion and average attendance per screening rose to 24.6 viewers. The average ticket price fell for the second consecutive year to RMB41.9 in 2025.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 11). Chinese Movie Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/chinese-movie-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Chinese Movie Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 11 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/chinese-movie-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Chinese Movie Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/chinese-movie-industry-statistics.

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