China's commercial live performances draw 194 million audience visits in 2025

In 2025, China staged approximately 640,400 commercial live performances (excluding those in entertainment venues), attracting a total of 194 million audience visits, according to statistics from the China Association of Performing Arts.

The figures were released on Tuesday by Liu Kezhi, head of the association, at the three-day China Performing Arts Market held this year in Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia.

According to data from the association's ticketing information platform, China's live performance market generated total revenue of 83.722 billion yuan (about 12.21 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up 5.19 percent year on year.

The year 2025 marked another period of strong growth for the sector, with new formats, venues and performance scenarios emerging at an accelerated pace.

"Large-scale performances remain highly popular and have become a powerful driver of cultural and tourism consumption. Meanwhile, a stream of high-quality productions demonstrate growing creative vitality, and small theaters and new performance spaces are increasingly developing in clusters," Liu said.

He added that the industry is taking on new characteristics, including a stronger focus on audience experience, deeper integration with tourism, and greater use of digital technologies.