China’s box office revenue jumped nearly 22 per cent in 2025, driven by a record-breaking domestic animated hit that helped the market rebound from a soft patch.
Total ticket sales reached 51.8 billion yuan (US$7.4 billion), the second-highest level in five years, according to data released by the China Film Administration on Thursday. While surpassing 2024’s haul, last year’s total trailed the 54.92 billion yuan recorded in 2023.
Local films continued to dominate the world’s second-largest movie market, accounting for 79.67 per cent of total takings – about a percentage point higher than a year earlier. Of the 51 films grossing more than 100 million yuan, 33 were domestic titles.
The recovery was anchored by the domestic animated fantasy Ne Zha 2, which drew a record 324 million viewers and contributed nearly a third of total annual sales.
The film, about a mythological Chinese hero, grossed nearly US$2.20 billion globally, ranking fifth all-time, with 97 per cent of revenue coming from mainland China, according to box-office tracker Dengta Data. Dengta said the movie brought back large numbers of moviegoers who had not visited cinemas since 2018 or 2019.
Another stand-out was the American animated sequel Zootopia 2, which ranked second at China’s box office with 102 million viewers, setting a record for imported films. China has accounted for 39 per cent of its US$1.46 billion global haul, Dengta data showed.