BEIJING - China ranks third in the world for its prolific output of film and television productions, a senior media official said.

Wang Taihua, director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), said in a recent interview that more than 500 films were produced in China in 2010, receiving a world ranking of third place for the size of its output, which is estimated to have earned a record 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) in box office takings.

Many of the films have been well received by the critics as well as popular with audiences, Wang said, citing Feng Xiaogang's Aftershock as an example.

The film, which relates the story of a mother and daughter rebuilding their relationship 32 years after they became separated in the aftermath of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, was the highest-grossing domestic film in 2010, raking in more than 600 million yuan.

China currently has more than 1,800 cinemas featuring 5,690 screens, Wang said. Although there are fewer than in the United States, where there are nearly 6,000 cinemas with 40,000 screens, an average of three new screens were built per day in China in 2010 to meet demand for the country's booming film industry.

In rural areas, where there are few modern cinema complexes, the SARFT has helped local governments organize free film screenings for farmers since 1998.

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"In 2009, attendance at the 7.8 million screenings totaled about 1.8 billion," Wang said. "Basically, every village now screens a film once a month."

As for the small screen, China has produced the most episodes of television dramas in the world, he said, quoting a survey that shows 80 percent of the viewing audience prefers to watch domestic TV series, preferably those that are locally made.

The animation industry has also grown considerably, with production increasing from 40,000 to 170,000 minutes between 2005 and 2009, he said, adding that the government has prohibited animations produced overseas from being broadcast on TV between 5 pm and 9 pm every night to protect the domestic market.

To give an indication of China's increasing international influence, Wang said CCTV, the largest TV network in the country, currently has six foreign language channels with 160 million viewers across the world. China Radio International also now broadcasts its news programs in 61 languages.

Looking to the future, over the next five years Wang would like to see greater integration between TV, radio and telecommunication networks, in order for richer content and more convenient platforms to become available to audiences.