By 2020, annual box office sales are expected to reach 100 billion yuan ($14 billion), according to an industry estimates, if China's 2016 box office sales exceed its 2015 total of 44 billion yuan (US$6.38 billion).

In 2015, China's film market grew by 48.7 percent, according to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT)

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Last year, China raked in about $6.3 billion in box office sales, which puts it next to Hollywood with a revenue of around $10.35 billion and far above the estimated $2.20 billion of revenue of Bollywood.

Box office sales in the world's second-largest film market have posted average growth of 35 percent year-on-year since 2003, said Tong Gang, the deputy head of SARFT.

In October, China's box office earnings exceeded 38 billion yuan ($5 billion) and even if we take into consideration the depreciation of the Chinese currency, Tong noted that the country's film market is set to grow even further. 

China's box office sales have increased from 1 billion yuan ($144 billion) to 40 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) in the past decade as the industry has adopted more market-oriented reform measures.

TagsChina box office, 2016, 2020, SARFT, Box Office Sales Records