Beijing: China's daily box office reached a new milestone on Wednesday, the Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, generating a record 1.805 billion yuan (about 249 million U.S. dollars) in earnings. The number of moviegoers on the day totaled 35.15 million, surpassing previous records set on the 2021 Chinese New Year, according to the China Film Administration (CFA).

The annual Spring Festival holiday is one of China's most lucrative movie-going seasons, running from January 28 to February 4 this year, one day longer than previous years.

According to Namibia Press Agency, leading the box office chart are six domestic films that debuted on Wednesday. These films span various genres, including Chinese mythology, wuxia, comedy, fantasy, animation, and drama.

Huajin Securities noted that these six new releases cover a range of genres, catering to different audience groups. It highlighted that most of these films are installments in highly-rated, high-grossing franchises with strong reputations and large fan bases. Since December of the previous year, the CFA has encouraged institutions to allocate approximately 600 million yuan in movie-going consumption subsidies. Analysts believe this move aims to unlock the full consumption potential of moviegoers.

Kaiyuan Securities predicts that total box office takings will see a 6.7-percent year-on-year increase, reaching 8.54 billion yuan during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday.