China's box office disappointed in 2024

China's box office disappointed in 2024

An economic decline usually means that people spend more money on small joys such as visiting the cinema. But the current economic doldrum of the second largest economy in the world puts this long -cherished theory to the test.

kinocasses in the decline

Last year the income at the box office in China fell by 23 % compared to 2023 and amounted to only 42.5 billion yuan (5.8 billion US dollars), reports Die China Film News, an official newspaper of the China Film Administration. These figures were published on Wednesday. The income was 34 % below the record year 2019, the best year of the film industry before a number of pandeme -related and economic challenges appeared.

popular film offer

The most successful film of last year was "Yolo", a feminist film that was staged by Jia Ling and also played by her. The story follows a 30-year-old woman who loses weight and reconsider her self-confidence by boxing. The Feel-Good comedy, in which Jia took over 100 pounds during the filming, achieved ticket sales of 3.5 billion Yuan ($ 474 million), according to Maoyan.

"Comedies are still the most popular film type for the audience and contributed 36 % to the annual turnover", Liu Zhenfei, a data analyst of the Lighthouse Research Institute, by the official business newspaper Economic Information Daily Cited on Thursday.

Fewer productions in the film industry

Despite these successes, the overall result on the box office was weak. The decline was partially due to the fact that fewer films were produced. According to official data, only 612 films were produced in 2024, compared to 792 in the previous year.

This trend is not only shown in China. According to Prodpro , the number of activated projects worldwide between July and September 2024 compared to the same period in the year 2022, since the industry continues to suffer from the effects of the disruptive Hollywood strikes from 2023.

changes in the international cinema

This tendency also seems to have contributed to the reduction of American cinema cash sales by 3 % last year, which corresponded to a total of $ 8.72 billion, according to calculations by deadline .

Surprise for industry experts

The decline in the film industry in China came as a surprise to many experts, since the cinemas in 2023 a good one Performance showed . They were a rare bright spot in China's economy, which had lost momentum after three years after three years of strict covid-19 measures.

weak consumption expenditure

Although the economic climate since the decision of XI Jinping, an urgently needed incentive package improved in September, the consumption remains weak.

"Beladed by the continued decline in the real estate sector and the weak consumer confidence slowed down the consumption of Chinese households in 2024, whereby animal 1 cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen), in which the loss of property is significant due to falling real estate prices, wrote poorly sections as smaller cities", wrote analysts from Goldman Sachs in one on Tuesday published research note.

challenges for the Chinese economy

Last month the China Film Administration led a subsidy program to support the battered cinema industry. According to the official Xinhua news agency, a number of banks and online booking platforms will jointly provide 600 million Yuan ($ 82 million) for reduced tickets and competitions to increase the number of cinema-goers in the new year.