China's box office revenue since the beginning of this year topped 18 billion yuan ($2.74 billion) on Tuesday.

The figure was slightly lower than the 18.5 billion yuan generated from Jan 1 to March 30, 2019, but was more than 80 percent of total ticket sales for the whole of 2020, data compiled by box office tracker Maoyan shows.

Comedian and actress Jia Ling's maiden directorial project Hi, Mom and Wanda Pictures' comedy Detective Chinatown 3 led the chart for the period from Jan 1 to March 30, respectively contributing approximately 30 percent and 25 percent of the total.

Both films hit Chinese theaters during the Spring Festival holiday.

The top eight earners on the chart are all domestic productions.

Coming in ninth was the US movie Godzilla vs Kong, which contributed more than 540 million yuan or 3 percent of the total.

The new chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse beat out Tenet, the sci-fi action film from Christopher Nolan, to become the top-grossing foreign film at China's box office since 2020.