China has declared it will further limit the number of US films that are permitted to be screened in the US, just hours after Donald Trump placed record 125% tariffs on Chinese goods entering the US.
The China Film Administration stated in a statement on Thursday that “the US government’s incorrect action of abusing tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favorability towards American films.” “We will moderately reduce the number of American films imported, respect the audience’s choice, and adhere to market rules.”
The action is similar to the possible reprisal that two prominent Chinese bloggers had proposed earlier this week, stating that “China has plenty of tools for retaliation.”
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Ren Yi, the grandson of former Guangdong party chief Ren Zhongyi, and Liu Hong, a senior editor at Xinhuanet, the website of the state-run Xinhua news agency, both posted the same proposal, which calls for a significant cutback in the import of US films and additional research into the intellectual property advantages of US businesses doing business in China.
Although homegrown films have surpassed Hollywood imports in recent years, China is still the world’s second-largest film market behind the US. The action taken on Thursday, however, is a serious setback for western studios; according to Bloomberg, shares of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., Paramount Global, and Walt Disney Co. all saw an instant drop in value.
With ticket sales of $14.5 million, or around 10% of the worldwide total, Warner Bros.’ recently released A Minecraft Movie topped the Chinese box office last week. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was the highest-grossing American picture released in China in 2024, earning $132 million there out of a $572 million worldwide total.
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Thirty-one years have passed since the first American picture was authorized for release in China, and in 2018, there were over 60. According to data from the Chinese ticketing company Maoyan Entertainment, it has since decreased as a result of rising tensions and the growing demand for domestic films.
Since its late January premiere, the animated fantasy movie Ne Zha 2, which follows a young protagonist as he battles Chinese mythological monsters, has made $1.8 billion in China and $20 million in the US.
Due to its enormous domestic success, it became the highest-grossing movie of 2025 thus far and in a single box office territory. It was also the highest-grossing animated movie ever and the first to earn over $2 billion worldwide.
However, a lot of people thought that the impending Hollywood blockbusters would further boost China’s year-end finances. Variety projected a total of $7.6 billion in 2025, which is a big increase from the $5.8 billion in 2024.
Movies like Avatar: Fire and Ash, Superman, Jurassic World Rebirth, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning would have been planned and edited with a Chinese distribution in mind.
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