SHANGHAI, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's box office raked in more than 5.6 billion yuan (880 million U.S. dollars) during the Spring Festival holiday, breaking the sales record for the same period.

On Feb. 16, the second day of the Spring Festival holiday, box office earnings totaled about 1.26 billion yuan, breaking the global single-day record in a single market, according to Maoyan, a popular film database in China.

The figures also represented annual growth of 50 percent over the same period last year.

Domestic film "Detective Chinatown 2" led the Chinese film market by the end of the holiday, earning 1.89 billion yuan, while second place went to "Monster Hunt 2," which took over 1.7 billion yuan.

"Watching a movie is a meaningful way for families to enjoy the holiday," said Zhang Qiuping, a movie-goer in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The Chinese Lunar New Year is traditionally a time for family gatherings in China. This year's holiday ran from Feb. 15 to Feb. 21.

The box office revenue of China, the world's second-largest film market, rose 13.45 percent in 2017 to more than 55.9 billion yuan.