(Yicai) July 15 -- After cinema ticket sales in China fell to the lowest in the first half this year since 2016, excluding the pandemic 2020, 2021, and 2022, due to a lack of high-quality movies, the box office will likely pick up during the peak summer season, according to an expert.

Most major summer flicks will be released between late this month and early next month, Sun Jiashan, an associate research fellow at the Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Administration, told Yicai. So the number of moviegoers will increase later than a year earlier when big movies hit the screens at an earlier stage, he added.

The box office in China totaled CNY23.9 billion (USD3.3 billion) in the six months ended June 30, down 9 percent from a year ago, according to ticketing tracker Maoyan. It tumbled 46 percent to CNY2.2 billion (USD303 million) last month from a year earlier. 

China's cinema ticket sales during the summer season, which runs from early June to late August, hit a record high of CNY20.6 billion last year.

Big movies usually need three to four years to be completed, so the impact of fewer film projects launched during the pandemic is being felt for the first time this year, Sun pointed out. The hot 2023 movie market mainly benefited from concentrated releases of pent-up needs during the pandemic, which is not the case this year, he added.

The weak box office also impacted the business performance of listed Chinese companies. Wanda Film Holding's net profit will likely plunge 69 percent to 76 percent to between CNY100 million and CNY130 million (USD13.8 million and USD17.9 million) in the six months ended June 30 from a year ago due to the soft market, China's biggest cinema chain operator predicted on July 9.

In the best scenario, this year's summer box office will be near that from a year earlier, Sun said, adding that the whole year figure might also drop from a year ago. However, recovery in the film sector will likely continue as projects set up after the pandemic will gradually hit the screens starting next year, he noted. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev