Too early to celebrate the box office, film experts say

Despite the nation's booming box office, a top official and film moguls sounded a cautionary note about the future of the Chinese film industry.

The 2010 box office earnings of Chinese films had reached 7.5 billion yuan ($110 million) by September, says Zhang Hongsen, vice president of the State Film Bureau, the industry's top regulator. The box office income for the whole of 2009 was 6.2 billion yuan.

"By the end of this year, the box office will hit a record 10 billion yuan," he told a seminar hosted by Beijing Film Academy.