BEIJING - Jame Cameron's Titanic 3D was the biggest tax contributor among foreign movies China imported in 2012, according to Beijing Customs Friday.

The movie took $144 million at the country's box office.

Figures released by customs showed that taxation contributed by foreign movies on screen in China last year topped $33.7 million, up 60 percent year-on-year.

The sharp increase was mainly attributed to the surge in the number of imported foreign movies, which rose to 64 in 2012, up from 50, according to China Film Group Corp, China's only authorized importer of foreign films.

Beijing Customs is the only channel for the company's foreign movie imports.

Previous to the 3D conversion of Cameron's 1997 blockbuster Titanic, only the sci-fi movie Avatar in 2009 chalked up tax of more than 40 million yuan ($6.4 million) in China.