A citizen walks past movie posters at a cinema in Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 16, 2024. (Photo by Long Wei/Xinhua)

China's box office revenue during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday through Saturday hit a record high of nearly 8.02 billion yuan (about 1.13 billion U.S. dollars), the State Film Administration said Sunday.

Domestic comedy movies accounted for over 97 percent of the total earnings, according to data from box office trackers Maoyan and Beacon.

"YOLO," directed by comedian Jia Ling, renowned for her debut film "Hi, Mom," led the holiday revenue chart with 2.72 billion yuan, representing more than one-third of the total earnings.

"Pegasus 2," the sequel to a 2019 blockbuster racing film by writer-director Han Han, ranked second with 2.40 billion yuan.

"Boonie Bears: Time Twist," the latest installment in the flourishing "Boonie Bears" animated film series, and Zhang Yimou's "Article 20" ranked third and fourth on the chart, with 1.39 billion and 1.34 billion yuan, respectively.

"China's box office during the holiday may have lacked highly industrialized visual effects blockbusters, but the diverse array of quality comedy films has effectively met the viewing demands for family-friendly entertainment during the holiday and driven the box office revenue growth," said Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association.