China National Day holiday box office passes 900 million yuan
In short
China’s National Day holiday box office, including presales, passed 900 million yuan as of Oct. 5, according to online platform data cited by CLS and China News Service. China News Service had reported the holiday take passing 600 million yuan on Oct. 4, and Xinhua reported it passing 800 million yuan on Oct. 5. Outlets framed the multi-genre slate as feeding cinema-linked spending on food, retail and travel.
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China’s National Day holiday box office, including presales, passed 900 million yuan as of Oct. 5, according to online platform data cited by the business outlet CLS and by China News Service, which both reported the figure on the evening of Oct. 5. Earlier, China News Service said the holiday take had passed 600 million yuan in its Oct. 4 midday report, and Xinhua reported it passing 800 million yuan on the afternoon of Oct. 5. None of the documents gives a prior-year figure for comparison. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
China News Service said the holiday slate covered family comedy, animation, crime suspense, warm-hearted comedy and realistic drama, along with films aimed at middle-aged and older audiences. Among the releases it described were a new instalment of the Resident Evil series arriving nine years after the previous one, and a film starring Brad Pitt about a man and a war dog depending on each other in extreme conditions. [ 1 ]
The outlets tied attendance to wider holiday spending. China News Service described a seaside campsite where a lawn became an open-air cinema with a large screen, surround sound and lounge chairs, part of an event combining film, coastal scenery and a market of intangible cultural heritage goods. It also described a joint discount scheme in which cinema members or same-day tickets earned discounts at multiple stores in nearby commercial districts, while shopping receipts earned half-price cinema tickets. Chengdu, which the outlet called a national pilot city for “film+” consumption, offered viewing discounts and open-air screenings linked to night markets and old towns, and China News Service said cinemas in commercial districts saw significant growth in footfall. [ 1 ]
CLS reported broader industry numbers alongside the 900 million yuan holiday figure, saying the film industry chain’s output value this year had exceeded 470 billion yuan and that the 2026 annual box office including presales had passed 300 billion yuan. It attributed the numbers to online platform data and calculations. [ 3 ]
The box office figures in all four documents rest on online platform data, and the documents do not break the holiday total down by film. CLS states that its 900 million yuan figure includes presales, while the earlier 600 million and 800 million yuan figures are reported without that detail. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Why it matters
The holiday is a major test of China’s film market, and the official outlets tie cinema attendance directly to spending in restaurants, shops and tourist sites around cinemas. The box office figures come from online platform data cited by the outlets, and the documents give no prior-year comparison, so the scale of any change from earlier holiday periods is not established.
Key facts
- National Day holiday box office including presales exceeded 900 million yuan as of Oct. 5, according to online platform data cited by CLS and China News Service. [ 3 , 4 ]
- China News Service reported the holiday box office passing 600 million yuan on Oct. 4, and Xinhua reported it passing 800 million yuan on Oct. 5. [ 1 , 2 ]
- CLS said the film industry chain output value this year had exceeded 470 billion yuan and the 2026 annual box office including presales had topped 300 billion yuan. [ 3 ]
- China News Service said the holiday releases covered family comedy, animation, crime suspense, warm-hearted comedy, realistic drama and films aimed at middle-aged and older audiences. [ 1 ]
- Cinemas and commercial districts ran a joint discount scheme in which cinema members or same-day tickets earned discounts at stores in the district, while shopping receipts earned half-price cinema tickets, China News Service said. [ 1 ]
- Chengdu, described as a national pilot city for “film+” consumption, offered viewing discounts and open-air screenings linked to night markets and old towns, according to China News Service. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The National Day holiday box office, including presales, had passed 900 million yuan by the evening of Oct. 5. [ 3 , 4 ]
- The holiday box office passed 600 million yuan by midday on Oct. 4, according to the official outlet China News Service. [ 1 ]
- Cinemas and nearby commercial districts promoted cross-discounts linking film tickets with retail and dining spending, China News Service reported. [ 1 ]
Still unclear
- How this year’s holiday box office compares with previous years. No document provides a prior-year figure or a year-on-year percentage, so no comparison can be made from the sources.
- The 470 billion yuan film industry chain output value and the 300 billion yuan 2026 annual box office. Both figures appear only in the CLS report, attributed to platform data and calculations, and are not repeated by another outlet.
- Whether the 600 million, 800 million and 900 million yuan figures are counted on the same basis. CLS explicitly says its 900 million yuan figure includes presales, while the earlier figures in China News Service and Xinhua documents do not state whether presales are included.
- Individual performance of the holiday releases. The documents list film titles and genres but give no per-title box office figures.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- China News Service publishes a report saying the National Day holiday box office has passed 600 million yuan, with new releases across family comedy, animation, crime suspense, comedy and realistic drama. [ 1 ]
- Xinhua reports that the National Day holiday box office has passed 800 million yuan. [ 2 ]
- CLS reports that the holiday box office including presales has exceeded 900 million yuan, and cites a film industry chain output value above 470 billion yuan this year and a 2026 annual box office above 300 billion yuan. [ 3 ]
- China News Service reports that the holiday box office has exceeded 900 million yuan, framing it as film and cultural tourism reinforcing each other. [ 4 ]