China's box office to top world in 2017: Report

China's box office is anticipated to surpass the United States' in 2017 and claim the title of the world's largest by touching $10.3 billion, international accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said today.

The report forecasts that China's box office revenue will hit $10.3 billion next year, while the United States is expected to ring up $10.14 billion, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted PwC report as saying.

With a compounded average annual growth of 19.1 per cent, China's box office takings are expected to hit $15.08 billion by 2020, the report said.

The report estimates a whopping $49.3 billion of box office earnings across the globe in 2020, with nearly one third of it to be generated in China.

Jiang Xiaoping, a PwC China partner, said the robust expansion of China's film industry is driving the global development.

According to predictions, revenue from advertising in the Chinese film industry will exceed $161 million by 2020, and the average ticket price will climb to 6.04 dollars from 5.44 dollars currently, the report said.