The significant ratio is in the last paragraph 13,188 screens (in China) versus 39,500 screens (in the US). China is now the 2nd largest market for cinematic movies and if businesses like Wanda (the 5th largest private company on the mainland) continue to build theater complexes, Ernst & Young estimates that the mainland market will surpass the US within a decade.
Why the Majority of Chinese Films Never Make it to Theaters from The Wall Street Journal:
Among the 745 feature films produced in China last year, only 315 – or 42% — played in cinemas, media-research firm Entgroup says in its recently released annual survey of the country’s film industry.
That number puts China far behind the U.S., where nearly three quarters of the 818 feature films produced in 2011 were released in theaters, according to the most recent statistics from the Motion Picture Association of America (pdf).
[…]
But the failure of so many Chinese films to make it into theaters serves as a reminder of the limitations the industry still faces, analysts and observers say.
Among the most basic of those limitations, according to Entgroup researcher Kady Yang, is a shortage of screens. “The capacity of China’s cinemas is very limited and their movie schedules are tight,” Ms. Yang said, noting that China is home to 3,680 cinemas with 13,118 total screens. The U.S. has more than 39,500 screens, according to the MPAA.
See Chapter 14 for more details.