China Booming in Cartoon Industry

Compared with Chinese native cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Changsha and Guangzhou, which have occupied positions in the first phalanx in China's cartoon industry, the very industry in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, although having not taken the preemptive opportunity from the very beginning, has become a great new force that has suddenly grown up within about five to six years. In 2004, there was hardly any output for cartoon products in Hangzhou yet; while in 2009, it came to be that almost one sixth of the output of originally created cartoons all over the country were from Hangzhou and about a quarter of excellent cartoons were "made by Hangzhou originality".

Referring to the rapid growing up of Hangzhou's cartoon industry, what cannot be ignored is China International Cartoon & Animation Festival settled in Hangzhou.

All famous giants and enterprises come together and march towards the new height
Wu Jianrong, Board Chairman of Zhejiang Zhongnan Group Animation Video Co., Ltd (Zhongnan Animation for short), which has currently become the leading enterprise in the cartoon industry, told the reporter that Zhongnan Animation had created 24 classic cartoons relating to 12 themes within the short 6 years by now since 2004 when Zhongnan Animation developed the first big cartoon picture. Zhongnan Animation has also had its created cartoon products sold towards 63 countries and areas and become the cartoon enterprise that has made the most volume of foreign exchange earned by export.

Similar to Zhongnan Animation, this is the very character of cartoon enterprises in Hangzhou that they grow up along with the successful operation on China International Cartoon & Animation Festival. Up to now, there have been 5 nation-level cartoon bases and 135 cartoon enterprises in Hangzhou, with employees beyond 10,000 persons. Among these enterprises, some of them are those famous ones invited from China and overseas.

After the first session of Festival, famous cartoonist Yao Feila established the Summer Island Film, Television and Cartoon Production Co., Ltd in Hangzhou, which attracted a batch of new generation of cartoonists settling in Hangzhou.

After the second Festival, Jade Dynasty Group Limited, a cartoon group, established symbiosis with Hangzhou.

After the forth Festival, Shueisha Inc, the biggest cartoon group in Japanese, jointly ran the National Xinxing Cup Animation Contest with cartoon companies in Hangzhou, so as to discover excellent cartoon and animation talents.

After the fifth Festival, Greatdreams Cartoon Group, the biggest cartoon and animation enterprise in China, has also settled in Hangzhou.

Government's guidance for promoting integrated "3 Kinds of Forces"
In Hangzhou, the developed cultural and creative industry profits from the mechanism, being good at using the "material hands" and the "immaterial hands". That is also suitable to the practice of conducting a sound Festival and promoting the development of cartoon industry. As told by Ye Ming, Deputy Party Secretary of Hangzhou Municipal Committee in charge of the cultural and creative industry, it is to exert the function of integrating "3 Kinds of Forces" of Government's guidance, enterprises as main body and market distribution.

As early as 2005, Hangzhou issued the industry policy leading in China, and further improved it increasingly. The Hangzhou Government invests RMB50 million yuan as a special fund annually on developing the cartoon and game industry, which is mainly devoted to supporting key projects, allowance and encouragement. Since the beginning of 2010, the special fund has amounted to RMB70 million yuan.

In 2008, the Hangzhou Government guided related financial agency to launch the first claims trust industry for cultural and creative industry, built a financing service platform for cartoon and animation enterprises and irritated financial agencies to provide financing service for small-and-middle-sized cartoon and animation enterprises.

Recently, Huang Kunming, Party Secretary of Hangzhou Municipal Committee and Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, pointed that what should be done is to conduct a sound China International Cartoon & Animation Festival and take it as the an effective springboard for speeding the transformation of the economy development method, so as to further drive the development of cultural and creative industry, especially the cartoon and animation industry, drive the development of tourism, especially the exhibition tour, .better give publicity to the brand of "Oriental Capital of Leisure" and improve the quality of people's life, especially the cultural life.