The box office revenue in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province exceeds 100 million yuan ($15.38 million) as of 10:00 am on Feb 18. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

Ningbo's box office revenue exceeded 100 million yuan ($15.38 million) as of 10 am on Feb 18, marking a milestone event for the city's film market, according to official data.

This is the first time the city's box office collection during the Spring Festival holiday have surpassed 100 million yuan.

As of 10:30 am on Feb 18, the city's box office amounted to 101 million yuan. Theaters from the districts of Jiangbei, Yinzhou and Haishu contributed 42 million yuan.

Ningbo raked in more than 95 million yuan in box office from Feb 12 to Feb 17, a rise of 38.6 percent over the same period in 2019, according to Chen Haiwei, a staff at Ningbo Film Co Ltd.

Ningbo is currently ranked 14th in the national box office rankings and second in Zhejiang province. Its box office collection accounts for 16.1 percent of the province's total.

Chen attributed the box office boom during the holiday to the factors such as the availability of diversified film genres which meet the needs of different audiences and improved quality.

The fact that many migrant workers opted to stay in Ningbo for the holiday period also fueled local cultural consumption growth.

"Watching films has become a major cultural consumption choice and an important way to socialize during the Spring Festival," Chen said.

As of 8 am on Feb 18, Zhejiang's box office amounted to 620 million yuan, up 35.5 percent from 2019. A total of 11.95 million people from the province went to the cinemas, an increase of 21.1 percent from 2019.