CINEMAS in China, the world’s second-biggest theatrical film market, were given the official greenlight Thursday to resume business beginning next Monday.

The China Film Administration put out the notice around midday, sparking instant celebration throughout the country’s filmmaking community. Chinese movie theaters have been shuttered since Jan. 23 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The nearly six months of closure have plunged many studios and exhibition companies into severe financial duress.

Not all movie theaters in China will be opening at once, however. The film administration’s directive says that theaters in “low-risk” areas for coronavirus infection will be permitted to “resume business July 20 in an orderly manner,” but multiplexes in “ middle and high-risk regions” must remain temporarily closed.”

For any cinema that reopens to the public, various “epidemic control measures” must be implemented. Attendance of each screening will be capped at 30 percent, and the overall number of screenings per venue must be reduced to “half their number in a normal period.” Furthermore, each film screening may not exceed two hours.

Concessions — cinemas’ biggest profit driver — will be banned. “Film screening venues will not sell snacks and beverages, and eating and drinking in the screening rooms is prohibited,” it said.

All tickets must now be sold virtually through real-name registered online reservations, and procured via contactless methods, it said. Different parties unknown to each other should be sold seats more than a meter apart. Masks will be mandatory for both employees and customers.

With the permission given just days in advance of the reopening date, it wasn’t immediately clear what movies multiplexes in regions designated “low-risk” will have at their disposal to screen. Cinema managers said they expected to screen some old films and holdover titles from prior to the pandemic until local distributors have had ample time to assess the market and schedule releases.(SD-Agencies)