China's movie box office revenue rose 13.45 percent last year to 55.91 billion yuan ($8.59 billion), more than tripling the 2016 growth rate as foreign films won a larger share of ticket sales compared to the previous year, said the Xinhua News Agency. Domestic films recorded ticket sales of 30.1 billion yuan in 2017, accounting for 54 percent of total box office, Xinhua reported on Sunday, citing data from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television. Domestic films in 2016 accounted for 58 percent of total box office.

China is the second-largest movie market globally after the United States, though it already has more total movie screens after years of rapid expansion in theatre networks.

Copyright Reuters, 2018