BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's cultural industry maintained steady growth in 2025, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday.

South Korean tourists dressed in Hanfu, a traditional Chinese attire, pose for photos in Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 6, 2026. (Photo: Xinhua)

The combined operating revenue of major cultural companies amounted to nearly 15.21 trillion yuan (about 2.18 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up 7.4 percent year-on-year.

Breaking it down by sector, cultural manufacturing revenue edged up 0.6 percent year on year to nearly 4.11 trillion yuan, wholesale and retail grew 4 percent to 2.53 trillion yuan, and services surged 12 percent to 8.58 trillion yuan.

"Cultural services have played a strong supporting role," said Pan Xuhua, a statistician with the NBS, noting that cultural services firms contributed 88.3 percent to the total revenue growth of major cultural enterprises.

Sectors featuring new business forms, such as digital publishing and online advertising, saw revenues increase by 14.3 percent to nearly 6.83 trillion yuan, 6.9 percentage points faster than the overall pace.

The cultural industry's profitability also improved last year, with profits of major cultural firms rising 6.5 percent year on year to 1.38 trillion yuan.

These NBS data are based on a survey of cultural companies with annual revenue of 20 million yuan or more, as well as those that meet other NBS-defined criteria.