China overtakes Japan to become world's second biggest movie market

Beijing, Apr 13 (ANI): China has overtaken Japan as the world's second-biggest cinema market in the first quarter of the year, industry experts have revealed.

According to industry figures, last year, the market value of the Chinese cinema industry, reached 17.25 billion yuan, with box-office receipts growing upto 13.15 billion yuan (2.08 billion dollars), the China Daily reports.

Mike Ellis, the Asia-Pacific President of Motion Picture Association of America, at a conference on Thursday, claimed that the number of China's cinema screens had increased from 4,753 in 2006 to 10,700 in 2011.

"Last year, China added on average eight screens in a single day. No nation in the world grew at that fast pace," Ellis was quoted as saying.

Ellis also highlighted that the US film industry, whose share in the global market grew from 57.3 percent in 2010 to 58.4 percent in 2011, may not be growing currently, but "internationally the market is doing terrifically well, here and throughout other nations." (ANI)