More movie tickets were sold online than offline in 2015, a joint survey by Penguin Intelligence, Tencent's big data platform, and group buying service Meituan and Dazhongdianping showed.

Mobile apps have become the top choice for China's movie-goers when purchasing tickets, the report said. Purchases made online surpassed those made offline last year, it added.

In Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces, online ticket sales accounted for more than 70 percent of tickets sold in the last three months, according to statistics published by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

China is one of the world's fastest-growing film markets. Its box office sales reached 44 billion yuan (6.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015, up 48.7 percent over those in 2014.

The convenience of purchasing online has driven audiences to theaters, heating up the movie market, said Pan Jian, director of the Movie and Animation Research Center of Zhejiang University.

"The switch from offline to online will change the way theaters operate and market. Ratings and comments shown in ticket-buying apps will have a bigger impact on the choices of audiences," said Pan. Endi

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