Internet fuels Chinese comics industry

Chinese comics artists create comic strips with colorful topics, from Taoism, to fox-demon fantasy. [Photo by Liang Luwen/China Daily]

The interactive platforms on the apps also allow Li to communicate with people who share the same interests and hobbies.

Besides a standard feature for comments after each chapter for readers to express their opinions, Tencent also promotes its danmu, or "bullet screening", real-time comment feature that flashes across readers' screens for them to share their ideas and feelings.

Kuaikan Comics offers a live communication platform on its app, which shortens the distance between comic creators and readers.

"We communicate like friends," says Li, adding that by interacting with creators in real time, she gets a deeper understanding of comic characters' personalities.

"Chinese culture in online comics is a natural link between the audience and the artist, making these comics easily understandable and popular among the young," says Song Lei, director of the development and research department of the China Animation Comic Game Group. Song started to focus on Chinese comics from the early 1990s.