The Chinese poster for Green Book (Photo/thePaper.cn)

The rate at which Academy Award-winning movies are being introduced into the Chinese market has picked up speed, with a wider variety of categories being introduced over recent years, ThePaper.cn reported on Feb. 25.

The film Green Book will hit Chinese cinemas on March 1, less than one week after it won Best Picture at the 91st Academy Awards (Oscars), which took place at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre in the western U.S. city of Los Angeles on Feb. 24.

Pre-sales for the movie in China have already exceeded 1.62 million yuan, according to Maoyan, China's official box office tracker, predicting that the figure will rise.

In the last 10 years, blockbusters with awesome special effects were favored by the Chinese audience, leaving little room for Academy Award-winning movies to be introduced into the Chinese market.

For example, among those that won the Academy Award for best picture, only The Shape of Water and The King’s Speech were previously screened in China. The King’s Speech made just 6.46 million yuan, even though it hit Chinese cinemas in 2012, the year following its victory.

Until recently, few western movies did well in the Chinese market. However, in July 2015, The Imitation Game, which won the Academy Award for best adaptation, was screened on the Chinese mainland and made 50 million yuan at box office. The movie was introduced, in part, thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch's popularity in China.

Usually, literary movie lovers in China watch nominated movies via different channels long before the Academy Awards ceremony. As a result, most Award-winning films have lost their appeal by the time they enter the Chinese market.