China's Q1 box office sales surpass North America

BEIJING - Box office sales on the Chinese mainland from January to March stood at 20.2 billion yuan ($3.16 billion), which topped North America to become the largest market, according to a People's Daily report Thursday.

The number surpassed that of the North American market, at $2.85 billion in the quarter, for the first time.

Domestic films contributed to 74.2 percent of the total quarterly sales, raking in 15 billion yuan, up 93 percent year-on-year, while the revenue during this year's Spring Festival holiday hit a record high of 5.7 billion yuan, according to the State Film Administration.

Over 560 million tickets were sold on the Chinese mainland during the three months, a 36.5-percent increase on a yearly basis.

The fast-rising number of cinemas has been a major factor behind the boost of the film market. By the end of 2017, there were 50,776 screens across the country, more than tripled than that in 2012 and the most in the world.