Low-budget films shine during Qingming Festival holiday

China's movie box office, during the three-day Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival holiday, hit 377 million yuan (roughly 52 million U.S. dollars), with small-budget and heartfelt productions drawing strong audience response.

According to online data, the top five performers during the holiday from Friday to Sunday were "Minecraft: The Movie," "We Girls," "Ne Zha 2," "Mumu," and "Fox Hunt."

Unlike major holidays such as the Spring Festival or summer vacation, the Qingming slot is relatively short and less competitive, offering more screening opportunities for mid- and low-budget films.

Movies such as "We Girls" and "Mumu," which focus on special social groups of female prisoners and parents with a deaf child, emphasizing emotional storytelling, resonated widely with the audience.

"It was deeply moving. Both my child and I were in tears. I'm still emotionally affected even after leaving the cinema," said An Na, a moviegoer in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province.

The emotional movie attracted large audiences.

"The turnout was quite strong, especially in the afternoons. On the day of Qingming Festival, our first show started at 08:20, and screenings ran all the way through to 02:00 in wee hours," said Hou Xuezhi, a manager on duty at a cinema in Shanghai.

The movie Mumu also launched a public welfare campaign during the holiday, inviting deaf viewers and their families for special screenings.

Another version of the movie with enhanced subtitle accessibility for the hearing-impaired , including descriptions of environmental sounds, background music, and voiceovers, as well as color-coded dialogue, is scheduled for nationwide screening on Tuesday.

In addition to new releases, the Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2," the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time, enjoyed renewed popularity during the holiday, with its original release earlier this year.

"The film still has momentum. Many viewers missed it during the first round and came after hearing about it from their friends. It's now been three months since its release, but attendance remains solid," said Wu Ting, manager of a China Media Group (CMG)-affiliated cinema in Shanghai.

Low-budget films shine during Qingming Festival holiday

Low-budget films shine during Qingming Festival holiday

The United States' push to revoke China's Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status, or granting the Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment permanently, is a clear instance of unilateralism and trade protectionism, according to a white paper released by China's State Council Information Office on Wednesday.

The white paper, titled "China's Position on Some Issues Concerning China-US Economic and Trade Relations", aims to clarify the facts about the bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries and lay out China's position on relevant issues.

The white paper said that the PNTR status is the ballast of China-U.S. economic and trade relations.

The U.S. push to revoke this status violates the rules of the World Trade Organization's (WTO), undermines China-U.S. relations, and disrupts the global economic order, the white paper noted.

According to the white paper, WTO rules require its members to unconditionally grant MFN treatment to all other members, a requirement that has binding legal force.

Over the past two decades, the PNTR has served to stabilize China-U.S. economic and trade relations. Revoking China's PNTR status will see China-U.S. economic and trade relations returning to the uncertainty and unpredictability that preceded China's accession to the WTO in 2001.

China opposes any unilateralist and protectionist acts that sabotage the multilateral trading system and hopes that the U.S. will be clearly aware of the possible harm caused by its attempt to revoke China's MFN status, the white paper said.

The white paper called on the U.S. to work constructively with the overwhelming majority of WTO members in safeguarding a fair and reasonable global economic and trade order and environment.

Rescinding China's most favored nation status undermines foundation of China-US trade relations: white paper