Number of cinema screens in China 2009-2019
China is one of the countries with the highest number of cinema screens, mainly driven by its growing urban population and rising demand for entertainment. In 2019, there were almost 70 thousand cinema screens in China.The growth rate had slowed down because of the intense market competition and a drop of capital investment.
Accelerating growth of cinemas in China
The number of cinema screens in China has increased almost 20 fold since 2007, from 3,527 screens that year to 69787 screens in 2019 acorss the country. The rise of 3D film showings had also been paralleled by an increase in the number of digital 3D cinema screens, which had increased from 1,297 screens in 2007 to 116,097 screens in 2019, worldwide. Reflecting the increase in cinema screens, the number of movie tickets sold in China had surpassed the one billion mark in 2015, and had been expanding since then. The increase of disposable income among Chinese citizens has also encouraged box office sales.
Hollywood faces hardship
Second after the United States, China is the largest movie market in the world and has been largely influenced by Hollywood productions. Movies such as “Titanic” and “Transformers” have been considered to contribute some new elements in the current movie culture in China which eventuelly attracts more new moviegoers. The film, “Avengers: End Game” had been one of the most successful movies in China of all time and had generated 4.25 billion yuan as of January 2020. In recent few years, there had been fewer foreign movies but more Chinese science-fiction and comedy films making into the annual highest-grossing chart. This implies a preference change among the Chinese cinema audience from overseas blockbusters, as well as famliy and romance-related content. It is worth noting that Chinese authorities still have a large influence on which films are released in the country and are rated by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television. Films produced in China, such as “So Young”, had easily been able to avoid being censored. The film had generated 719 million yuan in 2013.
Accelerating growth of cinemas in China
The number of cinema screens in China has increased almost 20 fold since 2007, from 3,527 screens that year to 69787 screens in 2019 acorss the country. The rise of 3D film showings had also been paralleled by an increase in the number of digital 3D cinema screens, which had increased from 1,297 screens in 2007 to 116,097 screens in 2019, worldwide. Reflecting the increase in cinema screens, the number of movie tickets sold in China had surpassed the one billion mark in 2015, and had been expanding since then. The increase of disposable income among Chinese citizens has also encouraged box office sales.
Hollywood faces hardship
Second after the United States, China is the largest movie market in the world and has been largely influenced by Hollywood productions. Movies such as “Titanic” and “Transformers” have been considered to contribute some new elements in the current movie culture in China which eventuelly attracts more new moviegoers. The film, “Avengers: End Game” had been one of the most successful movies in China of all time and had generated 4.25 billion yuan as of January 2020. In recent few years, there had been fewer foreign movies but more Chinese science-fiction and comedy films making into the annual highest-grossing chart. This implies a preference change among the Chinese cinema audience from overseas blockbusters, as well as famliy and romance-related content. It is worth noting that Chinese authorities still have a large influence on which films are released in the country and are rated by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television. Films produced in China, such as “So Young”, had easily been able to avoid being censored. The film had generated 719 million yuan in 2013.
