China’s Film Industry Saw 40 Percent Box Office Drop in the First Half of 2022

A scene for a TV series is shot at Hengdian World Studio in China, which features a 1:1 scale reproduction of the Forbidden City. The Chinese Ministry of Culture and investors see the country’s film industry as an instrument of soft power abroad. Giullio Di Sturco/Getty Images

China’s film industry has entered a deep winter amid the communist regime’s draconian COVID-19 lockdowns, with box office attendance in the first half of 2022 down nearly 40 percent year-on-year and no clear sign of recovery.

Despite the summer holiday, which is the peak season for China’s film industry, box office sales have been lackluster due to strict COVID-19 policies. In the first six months of 2022, China’s box offices raked in 17.18 billion yuan (about $2.65 billion), down 37.7 percent year-on-year, and saw 398 million moviegoers, down 41.7 percent year-on-year.