The Chinese box office made a total of 29.9 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) in 2014, a 36% increase vs. 2013.
For the second year in a row, domestic productions beat Hollywood offerings, taking a 55% share of the market.
That was despite the fact import quotas were expanded in 2012 to allow more Hollywood imports, Variety reported.
China is the world’s second largest box office territory after the US, with just under 50% of North America’s take, which slipped 5% to $10.3 billion.
Transformers: Age of Extinction was the 2014’s top film in China.
Hollywood has woken up to the Chinese market in recent years, with some movies catering specifically to the Chinese audience. Iron Man 3 included a special scene with Chinese A-list actors that was only seen in China.
Universal Studios is building a theme park in Beijing and a Disneyland – four times larger than the one in Hong Kong – is planned for Shanghai.
The biggest Chinese hits of 2014 were Breakup Buddies, The Breakup Guru, The Continent, Dad, Where Are We Going? and The Monkey King.
Other big hitters included The Taking of Tiger Mountain, a 3D war adventure film, which opened in late December.
Just over 1,015 cinema complexes were opened in China in 2014, delivering 5,397 new screens, an average of 15 new screens per day.
The total number of cinema screens in China now stands at 23,600.
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Iron Man 3 was the highest-earning film of 2013 around the world.
Iron Man 3, in which Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as billionaire crime-fighter Tony Stark, made $1.2 billion, according to online movie tracker Box Office Mojo.
Animated comedy Despicable Me 2 came in at number two with global takings of $918 million.
In the third slot was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire which made $795 million.
According to Variety, the top 10 includes eight sequels or reboots, two original properties and three that were animated.
Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron’s 3D film about astronauts adrift in space, is at number seven having made $653 million since it was released in October.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug also made a late entry into the top 10.
The second installment in the big screen Hobbit adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson, has topped the North American box office since the film was released in mid-December.
Iron Man 3 was the highest-earning film of 2013 around the world
Top 10 worldwide box office 2013:
1. Iron Man 3 – $1,215 million
2. Despicable Me 2 – $918 million
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – $795 million
4. Fast & Furious 6 – $788 million
5. Monsters University – $743 million
6. Man of Steel – $662 million
7. Gravity – $653 million
8. Thor: The Dark World – $629 million
9. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – $614 million
10. The Croods – $587 million
Source: Box Office Mojo
According to other industry statistics, the North American box office is projected to reach $10.9 billion in 2013 – representing its largest ever take, surpassing 2012’s total takings of $10.8 billion by more than $100 million.
However, the estimated number of tickets sold remains similar to last year. The National Association of Theatre Owners projects the actual number of tickets sold in 2013 will remain at 1.36 billion, the LA Times reported.
Ticket-price inflation and pricier 3D and Imax movies helped lift revenue to an all-time high even as attendance failed to match its peak, it said.
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Blockbuster Iron Man 3 has become the fifth top-grossing film of all time, according to online movie tracker Box Office Mojo.
The sequel, which has now made $1.14 billion worldwide, overtook 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon to claim fifth place in the chart.
Avatar and Titanic remain the all-time box-office champions, having both grossed more than $2bn worldwide.
Iron Man 3 has become the fifth top-grossing film of all time
Avengers Assemble and the final Harry Potter are ranked third and fourth.
Iron Man 3 is the fourth film to feature Robert Downey Jr.’s metal-clad crime-fighter.
The third was 2012’s Avengers Assemble, known in the US as The Avengers, whose current worldwide box office tally stands at $1.51 billion.
Iron Man 3 continues to perform strongly, although it has some way to go before its takings exceed the $1.34 billion that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 conjured up in 2011.
Once figures have been adjusted for inflation, however, neither title features in the US domestic all-time top 100, which is headed up by Gone With the Wind.
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