China's film market has maintained a growing momentum in 2019, of which domestic films accounted for 64.07 percent of the total box office on the Chinese mainland in 2019.

The total box office sales reached 64.266 billion yuan (about 9.23 billion US dollars) in 2019, growing by 5.4 percent from the previous year. Audiences favored domestic films more, which accounted for eight out of the 10 highest-grossing movies screened last year.

A poster for 'My People, My Country'. (Photo: China Daily)

Patriotic films screened around the National Day, such as“My People, My Country”, “The Captain” and “The Climbers”, have been especially appreciated in the year marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. As of now, the box office sales of “My People, My Country”exceeded 3.1 billion yuan, making it the highest-grossing celebration film in China’s film history.

Chinese films have witnessed highly-improved industrialization with films like“Ne Zha” and “The Wandering Earth" were widely-acclaimed. The former featured the Chinese mythological character and topped the China box office chart with nearly 5 billion yuan, while the latter, a film adaption of a Chinese science fiction novel by Hugo Award-winning author Liu Cixin, came second on the chart with 4.68 billion yuan.

At the same time, realistic films with diverse themes and styles also sparked attention. “Better Days” and “So Long, My Son” focus on social issues and ordinary people, using different narrative methods to outline the diversity of creation of Chinese films.

Insiders also observed fluctuated situations under the booming development. The mixed external environment and the downward pressure on the domestic economy affected cultural consumption, reported Tsinghua University professor Yin Hong. The rapid development of online videos and short videos has also diverted the attention of movie audiences.

To further stimulate the industry, policies and measures have been implemented to maintain the market order and provide a strong guarantee in 2019. The box office statistics system has been improved, tax evasion and other issues have been effectively addressed.