Adds data on travel, analyst comment

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Feb 5 (Reuters) - China's box office raked in record takings over the Lunar New Year holiday while domestic spending jumped, data showed on Wednesday, marking a bright showing for Chinese policymakers as they work to spur domestic demand.

The Chinese film market took in 9.5 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) over the eight-day Lunar New Year period that ended on Tuesday, 18.8% higher than the same period last year, as moviegoers flocked to cinemas to watch movies such as "Nezha 2", data from ticketing platform Maoyan 1896.HK showed.

The box office figure surpassed last year's record of 8 billion yuan for the same eight-day period.

A total of 187 million tickets were sold, also a record, during the Lunar New Year period.

Domestic travel spending hit 677 billion yuan, up 7.0% compared with the previous year, while the number of domestic trips rose 5.9% to 501 million, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism reported.

State-owned news agency Xinhua said multiple indicators, including total expenditure, reached record highs.

The ministry did not give a breakdown of the tourism spending per trip but, according to Reuters calculations based on the data, average spending per trip during the holiday this year reached 1,351 yuan, up from last year's 1,335 yuan.

However, data from air travel platform VariFlight revealed a mixed trend in flight activity. While the number of domestic passenger flights dipped by 0.7% compared with the same period last year, international and regional routes saw a surge, with passenger flights increasing by 21.4% compared with 2024.

The Lunar New Year data came after a private sector survey of services pointed to slower growth.

China is struggling with a prolonged property crisis that has curbed investment and dented confidence, though policymakers have pledged to prioritise domestic consumption this year.

"China had a solid start to the Year of the Snake," Citi analysts said in a note.

"Consumers seemed to have favoured services including culture consumption, with movie ticket sales hitting a record high. Expanded trade-in programmes boosted durables sales. Cross-border travel gained momentum, especially for inbound tourism. Domestic policy is now the main thing to watch after China’s tariff responses." ($1 = 7.2832 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Brenda Goh, Sophie Yu; Editing by Michael Perry and Alex Richardson)

((Sophie.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; 861056692136;))