China's box office revenue during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, which ended on Feb 17, hit a record high of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion).

With a 32 percent jump from 5.9 billion yuan during the 2019 holiday, the figure heralds a bullish start to the Year of the Ox for China's movie industry.

Hangzhou in Zhejiang province greatly contributed to the growth, with the city's box office returns during the holiday reaching 145 million yuan, ranking 10th among Chinese cities.

Statistics showed that a total of 160 million Chinese viewers attended theaters to watch movies during the past Spring Festival holiday, thanks to support from cinema operators.

From Feb 15 to 26, 10 Hangzhou cinemas, including High Long Movies World and Zhejiang Oscar Movies World, are offering free tickets to non-local attendees ifthey havesignedin by calling thecinemas' hotlines or havecheckedin with their ID cards.