Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's Shoplifters, a bittersweet fable about a lower-class family, won the top prize of the 71st Cannes Film Festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The latest winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or, Cannes Film Festival's top honor, will be imported into Chinese mainland, according to domestic distributors.

Shoplifters, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, made its Chinese debut at the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival, becoming the most sought-after among the 500 selected titles for festival release.

The tickets were sold out within minutes, pushing the ticket price up to nearly 2,000 yuan ($303) on Xianyu, an Alibaba-owned app where the public can sell secondhand or unwanted items.

Currently, the bittersweet fable about a group of plucky thieves has a score of 8.8 points out of ten on the popular review site Douban.com.

Kore-eda, alongside actress Matsuoka Mayus and teenage actor Jyo Kairi, showed up after one of the screenings on June 23, receiving overwhelming praise from local fans.