Animation Boom Fuels China’s 2025 Box Office Boom

China’s theatrical market posted an impressive comeback in 2025, with animation fueling the territory’s cinematic resurgence.

Total box-office revenue rose roughly 22% year over year to approximately $7.4 billion, resulting in one of the country’s strongest theatrical performances since the pandemic. More notably, animated films accounted for an eye-catching share of the year’s ticket sales, hinting at a shift in audience preferences (or at least a recognition of long-underserved tastes) and production priorities that could have long-term ramifications for the domestic marketplace as well as how foreign countries attempt to court moviegoers in the future.

The year’s and indeed animation box office history’s defining release was Ne Zha 2, which shattered domestic records and became the highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide, grossing an astonishing $2.2 billion. Its performance demonstrated the growing commercial power of locally produced animation, particularly titles rooted in Chinese mythology but presented with blockbuster-level production values and broad family appeal. On its own, the film contributed more than a quarter of the year’s total box office, underscoring animation’s outsized impact.

International animation also played a major role in the country’s box office resurgence. Disney’s Zootopia 2 came in with the strongest performance ever for an imported animated film in China, drawing more than 100 million admissions and generating a large share of its global revenue from the Chinese market. The result highlights China’s continued importance to Hollywood animation, even as domestic studios increasingly dominate the conversation.

Nobody, the sixth-highest-grossing film in China this year, shattered every box office record for a 2D animated film in the territory. The film needed only ten days to achieve the feat, also becoming the highest-grossing film from the increasingly influential Shanghai Animation Film Studio, pulling in $215.3 million.

Also notable: the latest entry in the ever-reliant Boonie Bears franchise pulled in $102 million at the box office, good for ninth place overall.

In total, despite accounting for a fraction of the films released in the territory, animated titles accounted for nearly half of China’s box-office revenue in 2025. What lessons will be learned, or more importantly heeded, in the coming years by producers and distributors remains to be seen, but it certainly looks like one of the world’s largest cinema marketplaces is more than ready for more animation.