SHIJIAZHUANG -- China's film industry increasingly values the quality of films instead of pure box office, said a film official on Wednesday.

The country's box office in 2016 had exceeded 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) as of early August, but the year-on-year growth slowed slightly, said Zhang Hong, Communist Party chief of the China Film Association in Tangshan, Hebei province.

This reflected the film sector shifting to quality films and the regularization of market, he said at the opening of the 25th China Golden Rooster & Hundred Flowers Film Festival.

A more healthy and prosperous Chinese film market is much anticipated, said Zhang, director of the organizing committee of the major film award event in China.

Last year, China produced 686 films and the total box office reached 44 billion yuan, according to Zhang.

The four-day event includes screenings of films from home and abroad, film forums and an awards ceremony.