Wed Feb 12 07:10:00 UTC 2025: ## 2025 Chinese New Year Box Office Breaks Records, Fueled by Government Incentives and Sustained Audience Interest

**BEIJING** – The 2025 Chinese New Year film season shattered box office records, raking in a staggering 9.51 billion yuan (approximately $1.3 billion USD). The post-holiday period continues to see strong attendance, with cinemas in both major cities and smaller towns reporting high occupancy rates.

Data released by online platforms reveals Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Guangzhou as the top five box office cities. Chengdu, ranking third nationally, saw over 4.58 million moviegoers and box office receipts exceeding 218 million yuan, a 45% increase compared to 2024.

Reports from Chengdu cinemas show near-capacity audiences even after the holiday ended. Similar scenes unfolded in smaller towns, such as De’an County in Jiangxi Province, where a cinema reported an average daily attendance exceeding 2,000 during the first ten days of the Lunar New Year, with peak daily box office revenue reaching 110,000 yuan.

This record-breaking success is attributed not only to high audience enthusiasm but also to government initiatives like the “Cross-Year Celebration, Welcoming the New Year – National Film Citizen Consumption Season.” Local governments issued movie consumption vouchers, extending the cultural consumption cycle and stimulating both peak and off-peak seasons.

Beijing, for instance, invested 33 million yuan in subsidies, while Shaoxing saw its initial batch of 30,000 vouchers snatched up in just 25 seconds. The vouchers, strategically released before and after the holiday, significantly boosted box office numbers in Shaoxing, with a 34.94% year-on-year increase in box office revenue and a 30.06% increase in attendance.

Beyond vouchers, initiatives like the “Taste the Cuisine with the Movie” campaign, jointly organized by the National Film Administration and the Ministry of Commerce, linked cinemas with restaurants, offering combined deals and boosting both food and film sales. This, along with other local “film+” initiatives, promises to sustain the momentum of the film market beyond the holiday season.

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