Authorities said domestic films have performed better than expected, although they earned less box office revenue than imported ones last year, the first time in 10 years.

The State Film Bureau, the top regulator of the industry, announced on Wednesday that the country's box office revenue in 2012 reached 17 billion yuan ($2.7 billion), a 30 percent rise over the previous year. Domestic films made up 48.5 percent of the revenue, raking in 8.27 billion yuan.

Tong Gang, president of the bureau, called the past year a tough time for domestic filmmakers because they faced fiercer competition from Hollywood.