(Yicai Global) Feb. 19 -- China's box office took a record-breaking CNY1.3 billion (USD206 million) on the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday, setting a new global high for one-day takings in a single territory.

Revenue had passed CNY2.4 billion as of 10.00 p.m. on Feb. 17, the second day of the six-day festive period, according to data from movie ticketing platform Maoyan, which is backed by China's largest tech firm Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Box office takings look set to soar past last year's figures for the entire holiday, which tallied CNY3.3 billion.

China's film sector has been on the up lately. The nation has more cinema screens than any other and box office revenue for the whole of last year leapt over 13 percent to nearly CNY56 billion, data from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television shows. Domestic movies made up more than half of the total at CNY30 billion.