A total of 43 cinemas in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, reopen on July 20, ending months-long closures amid the COVID-19 epidemic. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

A total of 43 cinemas in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, reopened on July 20, ending months-long closures amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

The move came after the China Film Administration, in a circular last week, allowed cinemas in low-risk areas to resume operations as long as they put effective epidemic prevention measures in place.

Ningbo has approximately 110 cinemas in addition to the 43 that have already resumed operations. Fifty-one are currently preparing to reopen and have announced specific dates.

The Ningbo Cinema City located near Dongmenkou in Haishu district was among the first cinemas to receive customers again.

The first movie that the cinema screened was "A First Fairwell", which is a story about familial ties told from the perspective of three ethnic Uygur children. 

Nearly 300 tickets were sold at the cinema in just one day. Cinemas are required to limit their attendance to 30 percent capacity, according to related guidelines.

Moviegoers expressed support for the reopening of cinemas and for Chinese films. A resident surnamed Ye said that he really missed the atmosphere in the cinema, so he booked tickets last night, expressing hope that the films originally scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival holiday would be screened soon. 

To prevent of a new wave of coronavirus infections, moviegoers in the city are required to present green health QR codes, which indicate they have little possibility of being infected with disease, book tickets online, wear masks, and keep their distance from others. 

As of 11 am on July 20, Ningbo's box office ranked sixth nationwide, just behind Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Changsha, and Nanjing, according to Dengta Professional, an online ticket-booking platform operated by Alibaba.

Xie Anliang, an official from the publicity department of the CPC Ningbo municipal committee, revealed that the city will issue coupons to stimulate the recovery of the film sector and encourage cinemas to offer special perks to those who have contributed to the battle against the epidemic.