Animated films add to China's booming film industry

Five out of the 20 best performers in China's movie industry from January to April were animations, as the genre gains popularity in China's booming movie industry.

Of the 8.46 billion yuan ($1.35 billion) in total box office in this period, some 18 percent came through animations, according to Legal Daily, a big change in the perception in China that animated films are only for kids."Despicable Me 2," though released in China nearly six months later than in the United States, still raked in 326 million yuan, while domestic film "Boonie Bears: To the Rescue" achieved 248 million yuan.

Domestic animated films are also on the rise, according to Zhou Jiandong, an official with the film bureau under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. Domestic animated films earned 646 million yuan in 2013, 5.2 percent of the total box office, said Zhou at the 10th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival on Thursday.

Zhou said the market share for domestic animated films may even increase to 10 percent of the total in the next two to three years.