China's box office revenue, including pre-sale tickets, has exceeded 15 billion yuan (about 2.11 billion U.S. dollars) in the year to March 10, according to Dengta Data, a box office tracker run by the country's e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The top three movies over the period were domestic productions YOLO, Pegasus 2, and Article 20, with revenues hitting 3.45 billion yuan, 3.34 billion yuan, and 2.39 billion yuan, respectively.

Total box office exceeded 11 billion in late February, when the Spring Festival holiday was celebrated, according to Dengta Data.

In a change to the normal lull in movie releases in the off-season after the Spring Festival, 31 new domestic and foreign films have been scheduled for release at cinemas across China in March.