The Chinese mainland produced 260 feature films' as of Wednesday in 2005, an increase of 48 over the last year, according to the Chinese film's administration.

It is the third year in succession that the number has seen high-speed growth, said Tong Gang, director of the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television at a press conference on Wednesday.

Among the 260, 208 were recorded in film with the other 52 digital, Tong said.

The mainland also has made 129 TV movies, seven cartoon movies,37 science and educational movies and two news movies, registering a new record total annual film output in the centennial Chinese film industry, he said.

Among the 260 feature films, 65 were made by state-owned film studios, 96 by private or other non-governmental studios, 62 co-produced by state-owned and private studios and 37 co-produced by the state-owned, private and foreign studios, he said.

Excluding those made by Hong Kong and Taiwan since the founding of new China in 1949, China has turned out a total of 26,300 films since 1905 when the country's first movie was screened, including more than 7,200 features, about 650 cartoons, more than 12,400 news documentaries, approximately 4,800 science and educational ones and more than 700 for TV showing, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2005)