State Film Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation
jointly issued a notice encouraging cinemas to diversify operations. The notice
supports cinemas introducing premium F&B—full-service dining, light meals,
bakeries, coffee-book bars—and developing IP co-branded food products. It urges
expansion of cultural-retail formats, including dedicated film-derivative shops
and multi-brand cultural-product stores. Regulators back integrating leisure
with cultural and science-education functions and adding entertainment formats
such as AI virtual beings and video gaming to create trend-driven cultural
consumption hubs. Cinemas are further urged to raise aesthetic standards by
hosting creative markets, art exhibitions and IP pop-up stores to build larger
cultural venues.
