(Yicai Global) Sept. 2 -- Chinese movies grossed a record CNY17.6 billion (USD2.5 billion) at the mainland box office during the summer holiday from June 1 to Aug. 31, surpassing last year's CNY17.4 billion.

Almost 130 Chinese and foreign films were released in the three months, 21 of which made CNY100 million (USD14 million) each, while five raked in more than CNY1 billion a piece, according to the China News Service app, which cited government data. The number of moviegoers also hit a record high of 499 million, compared with 496 million last year and 476 million in 2017.

Anime morality tale Ne Zha ranked first with revenue of CNY4.7 billion, followed by another domestically produced film The Bravest, which tells the story of firefighters battling a coastal oil tank blaze, with CNY1.6 billion. Imported blockbuster Spider-Man: Far From Home ranked third with CNY1.4 billion.

The summer can be said to have been Ne Zha's. It broke records for first-day, single-day, first-week, and single-week box-office revenue for an animated film and has repeatedly shattered other records since its release on July 26. The movie is adapted from Chinese mythology and tells the story of Ne Zha, a boy "born to be a demon" who must choose between good and evil.