China’s film authority entices moviegoers with discount vouchers to spur sluggish industry

China’s oversight body for its film industry is issuing discounts on tickets to help bring theatregoers back to the cinema, in the latest move by authorities to boost consumption as the economy still faces sluggish growth prospects.

The China Film Administration (CFA) has joined forces with several movie-ticketing platforms to issue 100 million yuan (US$14.8 million) worth of discount vouchers in an attempt to subsidise ticketing costs and bolster spending from now through October.

With people increasingly unwilling to spend money, coupled with slow economic growth amid the nation’s strict zero-Covid policy, regional governments have issued several rounds of consumption vouchers in the past few months. These have covered a wide range of industries, including film.

Cinemas in the world’s second-largest economy have been forced to close from time to time since lockdown measures began being imposed in 2020, leaving the film industry in a prolonged slump.

CFA data shows that China’s box office earned 20.42 billion yuan (US$3.03 billion) in 2020, down 68.2 per cent from pre-pandemic 2019. But sales went on to reach 47.26 billion yuan in 2021, representing 70 per cent of the 2019 box office.

Due to recurring outbreaks and a lack of new films, the national box office pulled in just 17.2 billion yuan in the first half of this year – a 37.7 per cent decline, year on year – according to figures from China International Capital Corporation (CICC).

In an August 1 report, the CICC said the nation’s film industry was expected to do better in the year’s second half, with a boost from summer releases.

There were nearly 34 million theatregoers in China during the first week of August, an increase of 11.85 per cent over the same period last month, according to Beacon, a film-data platform owned by Alibaba Pictures.

Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, is one of the movie-ticketing platforms cooperating with the CFA by offering vouchers worth 12 yuan (US$1.78) each for consumers to collect – one per account – until the campaign ends on September 30.