Chinese enterprises in the cultural sector and related businesses saw their combined revenue hit a record high in 2024, official data showed Friday.

The total revenue rose 7.1 percent year on year in 2024 to 19.14 trillion yuan (about 2.67 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS data showed that in 2024, nine major sectors of the cultural industry achieved widespread revenue growth. Among them, the cultural equipment manufacturing, news and information services, content creation, and creative design services experienced rapid revenue increases, growing by 11.2 percent, 8.6 percent, 8.4 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively, compared to the previous year.

The eastern and central regions generated cultural industry revenues of 14.18 trillion yuan and 2.87 trillion yuan, growing by 7.8 percent and 7.3 percent year on year, respectively, outperforming the national average, according to the NBS.

In 2024, large-scale cultural enterprises invested 162.5 billion yuan in R&D, a year-on-year increase of 1.7 percent.