Every city has its differentiating edge. For Hangzhou, it is
animation and cartoons.
In March 2005, Hangzhou won its bid to host China's first
International Animation and Cartoon Festival, which started on May
31 and runs until June 5.
To date, the city boasts some 20 animation production
enterprises that churn out about 1,500 minutes of animation works
annually.
"If the Yangtze River Delta is a newspaper office, Hangzhou is
the newsroom," said a Hangzhou-based animator.
The animation industry really took off in China only in the
1990s. Cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Changsha, Guangzhou, and
later Hangzhou, led the way in setting the trends.
Although Shanghai is considered to be the birthplace of China's
animation industry, the Shanghai Animation Studio is still the
municipality's only animation production institute.
Hangzhou, on the other hand, has witnessed a rapid development
of its animation industry over the past two decades.
In 1988, Hangzhou kick-started its animation industry with the
establishment of the Hangzhou Animation Production Co. Ltd.
The industry in Hangzhou has flourished since then. So much so
that the Hangzhou
High-tech Industry Development Zone and the China Academy of Art
were included in China's first group of National Animation Industry
Bases and National Animation Teach and Research Bases last
December.
So why is it that Hangzhou and "anime" go together like hand and
glove?
Wang Jian, deputy director general of the Hangzhou Culture and
Broadcast Bureau offers this explanation: "Preferential policies,
rich capital resources and abundant professional talent."
To accelerate the development of the animation industry, Zhejiang
Province listed cartoons or animation as one of its leading
industries. It also offered a monetary incentive of a 1 million
yuan annual bonus for the development of its own animation
brands.
The Hangzhou municipal government also established an
"encouragement fund" for original works, and set up an expert
consultation committee and a professional association to steer the
healthy development of the industry.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television also
promised privately owned animation companies that they would be
given equal treatment as state-backed firms. Hangzhou benefited the
most from this policy because revenue generated by private
enterprises formed 80 percent of the city's 251.5 billion yuan
gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004.
What's more, Hangzhou is home to 35 higher education
institutions, more than ten of which have established animation as
an academic subject. These include Zhejiang University,
the China Academy of Art, and the Zhejiang Institute of Media and
Communications, all of which offer majors in digital media,
animation and software development. It is from these institutions
that Hangzhou draws its constant supply of bright young talent.
Currently, six cartoon series are under development in Hangzhou.
By the end of 2005, 15,000 minutes of animation works would have
been finished, and over 20,000 minutes of processed or
post-production work should be ready for general viewing. There are
also plans for an original feature film, 30 cellphone games, and
comics.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Li Xiao, June 2, 2005)
