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Hangzhou aims to be national animation center

By Li Huayu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-04-28 09:33

With an annual investment of 50 million yuan ($7.13 billion) from the city government, Hangzhou, a scenic city famed for its West Lake, is hoping to turn itself into the center of China's cartoon and animation industry by 2015, said a city official yesterday.

"Hangzhou has the advantages and the confidence to make the dream come true," Ye Ming, deputy secretary of the city committee, said at a press conference for the 4th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival (CICAF).

The CICAF, the only national cartoon and animation festival, has been held three times in Hangzhou. The annual festival this year will last from April 28 to May 3, 2008. In 2006, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television designated Hangzhou the fixed host city for the event.

With an 8,000-year history, Hangzhou is rich in legend and beautiful scenery, which are widely regarded as a source of imagination, Ye said. "Robust economic growth has also helped lay a solid foundation for the prosperity of the cartoon and animation industry."

Statistics show that as one of the most developed and vibrant cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, Hangzhou achieved a gross domestic product (GDP) of 410 billion yuan in 2007, with a per capita figure at $8,100.

Following years of efforts, Hangzhou has built a national cartoon industry base, a national digital entertainment industry pilot area, and a national software industry base, and other clusters for the national cultural creation industry.

The 4th CICAF, held in the World Leisure Expo Garden in Hangzhou, has an exhibition area of about 60,000 square meters. With more than 1,400 exhibition booths available, about 300 institutions and enterprises from 17 countries have registered for the festival, said the organizer.