(Yicai Global) Nov. 2 -- The value of new science fiction products in China rose by 44 percent last year amid a fresh wave of popular games, movies, and TV series.

The sector's output was valued at CNY65.9 billion (USD9.8 billion), jumping more than 40 percent from a year ago, Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

Games are the biggest contributor to the tally and one of the hit titles is Game for Peace, the Chinese mobile version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, with 50 million daily active users. Some 1,380 domestically developed online games were launched last year, and 15 percent of them belonged to the sci-fi genre.

Movies and TV series are the combined second-biggest contributor. Sci-fi movies raked in CNY19.5 billion in box office receipts last year, driven by blockbusters such as the Wandering Earth and Crazy Alien. Meanwhile, three of the top 10 movies that year were sci-fi ones.

Sci-fi books grossed CNY2 billion (USD298.6 million) over the year. The field was transforming as digital and audiobooks made 13 percent more than in 2018. Some of the bestsellers included the Three-Body Problem, the Galactic Empire Trilogy, and Jules Verne’s novels.

Moreover, sellers of sci-fi merchandise, featuring more than 1,000 categories, earned CNY1.4 billion in 2019.

Editor: Emmi Laine