A staff member maintains power supply facilities at Capital Cinema in Beijing. The cinema industry has yet to be allowed to resume work.[Photo provided to China Daily]

More than a month since the nationwide closure of thousands of cinemas due to the outbreak of COVID-19, domestic operators in China, the market with world's highest number of screens, are struggling for survival.

With no sign of reopening, some theaters have partly shifted their business focus to e-commerce, exemplified by Wanda－one of the world's largest cinema chains－which is selling snacks and beverages online.

Industry insiders tell China Daily that the food－including ice creams and sausages－were previously prepared for the lucrative Spring Festival holiday.

As some of the food is approaching its expiration date, they are being sold at a much lower price than usual.

Such an effort, though, is still quite minor compared to the unprecedented financial loss. Aside from enduring the deficit caused by blockbusters pulled from screens during the lucrative Spring Festival vacation－which started on Jan 25－and Valentine's Day, theaters are still facing high expenditure for property rental and staff salaries.

Last year, blockbusters tailored for the seven-day vacation drew around 130 million visits, raking in 5.8 billion yuan ($836.2 million), which accounted for 9 percent of the total box-office receipts for last year.

Song Bingmei, a manager of Nanning Minzu Cinema in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, estimates that her theater has endured a loss worth around 6 million yuan in January and February.

"Before Spring Festival, we heard a lot of acclaim for the upcoming blockbusters during sneak previews. If all of them could have been released and performed well during the holiday season, the one-week revenue was estimated to account for around 10 percent of our yearly income in 2020," says Song.

Now, being shut down, Song's theater has arranged staff on rotational duty to maintain the facilities and do daily cleaning jobs.

"I heard some privately owned theaters are planning to file for bankruptcy. Luckily, our theater can hold out for a longer period. So far, no employee has left the company," adds Song.

Luckily, Song's theater has been exempt from rental fees between February and March, and the fees for April to June will be cut by half. The theater is also working on adjusting the pay for its employees.

Despite not yet knowing when they can resume operation, there is a glimmer of hope for struggling theater operators.

On Feb 23, China Film Distribution and Exhibition Association issued a set of proposals about the preparation for cinemas to reopen, which has quickly stirred mixed reviews online. Most online users say that they are worried that reopening theaters will raise the risk of infection.

Three days later, on Feb 26, Beijing Film Bureau, the city's top sectoral regulator, along with Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, released a more detailed guideline about the theaters' resumption of operation.