Figures from State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television also show that domestic productions earned 30.1 billion yuan, accounting for 53.84 percent of the total revenue.

With 9,597 new screens installed in 2017, China's giant screens now number a record 50,776. Earlier in 2017, China overtook the United States to become the nation with the most screens.

Urban visits to theaters rose to a total of 1.62 billion patrons, up 18.08 percent from 1.372 billion in 2016, signifying more Chinese flooding to cinemas last year.

Up to 92 movies surpassed the bench mark box office of 100 million yuan, including 51 domestic titles, which accounted for 55.4 percent of the total. The numbers in 2016 were 78 movies overall and 39 domestic titles.

Boosted by Wu Jing's Wolf Warrior 2 and Zhang Yimou's The Great Wall, Chinese movies' overseas sales scored 4.253 billion yuan, an annual rise of 11.19 percent from 3.825 billion yuan in 2016.