BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The scale of China's documentary industry has grown twelvefold over the last 10 years, according to a report by the China Press Publication Radio Film and Television Journal.

Zhang Tongdao, director of a documentary research center under the Beijing Normal University, was quoted by the newspaper as saying at a press conference to release an annual research report on the development of China's documentary industry.

According to the report, the total output value of documentaries in China registered a year-on-year increase of about 7 percent last year, reaching over 6.4 billion yuan (950 million U.S. dollars).

The report said that 16 documentary films were screened in Chinese cinemas last year, taking in 526 million yuan at the box office in total.

The press conference was jointly held by the research center, China Intercontinental Communication Center and online video platform Bilibili.