Local residents are seen watching movie posters in Shenyang on June 24, 2023. Photo: VCG

China's daily box office revenue exceeded 100 million yuan ($13.72 million) for 68 consecutive days as of Sunday, according to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan, an upbeat sign for the country's film industry and the wider consumer market.

The total box office for the summer movie season (June 1 to August 31) exceeded 20 billion yuan as of Saturday, according to Maoyan, higher than the previous record of 17.78 billion yuan set in 2019. 

It is expected to reach 60 billion yuan by the end of the year, analysts said.  

As of press time, the summer box office hit 20.18 billion yuan, taking the overall box office to 42.33 billion yuan, according to Maoyan. 

The box office milestone this year can also be seen as a triumph for domestic movies and China's film industry. Industry insiders said that this year's summer movies offered diverse themes and high quality, showing China's great potential for movie creation as the cinema market continues to recover and improve.

The top six highest-grossing films this summer were all domestic productions with the suspense thriller Lost in the Stars leading the chart. 

The second place is the crime drama No More Bets, and the third place is the fantasy epic Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms.

The boom in the domestic film market comes with recovering retail sales in the world's second-largest economy. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said that retail sales reached 3.7 trillion yuan in July, up 2.5 percent year-on-year. The reading was lower than that of June, while total retail sales in the first seven months increased by 7.3 percent year-on-year. 

According to the MOFCOM, catering and accommodation, culture and tourism, sports and leisure, and transportation have seen a rebound in consumption. Box office revenue in July reached 8.72 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 1.5 times.