Civilization is threatened by natural disasters in 2012, but Chinese-built ships save humanity. (Sony Pictures)

The disaster movie 2012 has become the best-selling Hollywood movie in China after selling $67.3 million US in tickets.

That eclipses the record set by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earlier this year, according to Weng Li, a spokesman for China Film Group, which distributes the movie.

Part of the appeal of the apocalyptic film directed by Roland Emmerich is that China plays a role in saving humanity.

2012 shows a series of natural disasters leading to the end of the world, with Chinese workers building giant boats in the Himalayas that will carry people over the rising waters.

That's a change in attitude toward China from films such as 1997's Red Corner, about a U.S. lawyer framed for murder or Kundun, from the same year, a pro-Tibet account of the life of the Dalai Lama; both depict a repressive and evil China.

"2012, however, depicts a positive China — the 'Made in China' Noah's Ark-style boats are a symbol of the country's rising power in the manufacturing sector," said Li Yu of the Chinese Centre for Cinema Research.

2012 outperformed the patriotic film The Founding of a Republic, starring Jet Li, Jackie Chan and many of China's top stars. The movie, about the founding of the Communist Republic under Mao Zedong, was made to mark 60 years of communist rule. It was this year's No. 3 film in China, earning the equivalent of $61 million US at the box office.

China allows only 20 Western movies into the country annually and controls distribution through state-owned China Film Group. Last week a World Trade Organization ruling condemned the tight control and ordered China to open up other distribution channels.

In 2008, Chinese box office revenues surged 30.5 per cent to $629 million US.

With files from The Associated Press