China's 2021 box office total hits 30b yuan

BEIJING - China's 2021 box office revenue topped 30 billion yuan ($4.64 billion) as of Saturday.

The milestone this year was reached more than a month later than in 2019, when the same figure was hit on June 22, according to data by box office tracker Maoyan.

Eight of the top 10 earners at China's box office this year are domestic productions.

Chinese comedy films "Hi, Mom" and "Detective Chinatown 3" lead the yearly chart, with earnings of 5.41 billion yuan and 4.52 billion yuan respectively, or 18 percent and 15 percent of the total.

"Chinese Doctors," a cinematic portrayal of China's fight against COVID-19, which has recently seen its cumulative ticket sales cross the 1-billion-yuan mark, now ranks seventh.

The only two foreign films in the top 10 are US productions "F9: The Fast Saga" and "Godzilla vs Kong," respectively ranking third and fourth with 1.39 billion yuan and 1.23 billion yuan.

The yearly ticket sales growth is expected to pick up in the coming weeks as the summer box office starts to heat up in China.