Hollywood actor Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" minted $18.5 million on its first day in China, turning out to be one of the best debuts a US film has ever enjoyed in the country.

The Paramount and Skydance production features Cruise in his fifth appearance as spy Ethan Hunt. It has grossed more than $511 million worldwide since its debut in July, reports variety.com.

Paramount has made the Chinese market a major focus for its international division, and the emphasis has paid off with its other two releases "Terminator Genisys" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction" minting $26.7 million and $27.4 million respectively.

The top two openings for US films belong to "Furious 7" with $54.4 million and "Avengers: Age of Extinction" with $29.2 million.

To help push the film in China, Paramount enlisted Alibaba Pictures group as a co-financier.

It also deployed Cruise on a promotional visit to China, where he held press conferences a1nd fan events in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai last weekend.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" enjoyed an opening day that was 116% more than Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol's" first day in China.