Laughs give China's film market a boost

The "101st Marriage Proposal," a low-budget domestic romcom, which debuted in Chinese theaters on February 12, raked in 95 million yuan during the seven-day holiday.

"The maturing market featuring the success of comedies shown during the holiday also benefited from the expansion of China's theater coverage, said Rao Shuguang, China Film Art Research Center deputy director.

Last year saw an average of 10.5 screens added to Chinese theaters each day. The number of screens in the country grew from 1,845 in 2002 to 13,118 in 2012, official data showed.

Considering that there is a screen for about 8,000 to 10,000 people in the US, while there is only one for about 100,000 in the Chinese mainland, the potential for further growth of the Chinese film market is huge, Rao said.

Meanwhile, observers have complained about the quality of Chinese films.

"They are still unable to rival Hollywood blockbusters in script and production," Rao said, adding a lack in diversity and variety was another weak point for the market.

Popular films screened in recent months, including "Lost in Thailand" and "Odyssey" are all comedies. "People were left with little choice when it came to quality films produced by domestic companies," Zhang said.

Zhang added a majority of the domestic films are box office failures due to poor quality and marketing.

In 2012, ticket sales for imported movies accounted for 51.54 percent of gross ticket revenue, but 893 Chinese domestic films were shown in theaters, compared to only about 50 imported films, including 34 Hollywood blockbusters.