GUANGZHOU - The Chinese government has an
ambitious plan to boost domestic production of
comic books, animation films and television
series, seeing the fledgling industry as one of
the new keys to sustaining growth in the economy.
However, the move is seen culturally and
ideologically as an attempt to regain Chinese
dominance in the home-animation and comics market,
which is currently dominated by Japanese and South
Korean products.
This year marks the 80th
anniversary of the birth of the first Chinese
comic book. The State Administration of Radio,
Film and Television has set a target of 280,000
minutes annually for broadcast of domestically
produced cartoons and TV series.
However,
the output of domestically made cartoons now is
only
enough
for 30,000 minutes, leaving a gap of 250,000
minutes for foreign producers to fill. Industry
insiders estimate that this gap is worth 80
billion yuan (US$10 billion).
With such
huge market potential, it is no wonder foreign
products began to "invade" China in 1980s.
The cartoon and TV-series industry started
late in China. Before the 1990s, there were only a
couple of professional cartoon-producing units -
Shanghai Fine Arts and Film Factory and the
Animation Works Department with China Central
Television (CCTV), both of which are state-owned.
In the late 1980s, foreign-made cartoons began
gradually to enter China. When the cartoon market
was finally open after 1993, the Chinese industry
was well behind the more mature Japanese and North
American products.
A recent survey
conducted in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou
shows that foreign-made comic books, animation
movies and TV series now take 90% the Chinese
market. Another nationwide survey found that among
the most popular animations and comics with
Chinese youths, those made in Japan and South
Korea accounted for 60%, while those made in the
United States and Europe took 29%. Only 11% were
produced in Greater China - the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Many
Chinese children are fans of Japanese cartoons and
do not like domestically produced products as they
claim they are much less humorous, interesting and
exciting.
Many Chinese economists now
boast that China is entering the
"post-industrialization" era. And the Chinese
government now sees the development of "soft"
industries such as animation and comics, as the
new keys to sustain the country's high-speed
growth. Chinese media have emphasized the
importance of the animation and comics industry to
the Japanese economy. For example, according to
Beijing Business Weekly, the Japanese animation
and comics industry now is the third pillar of
that country's economy, accounting for more than
10% of its gross domestic product.
To
boost China's own animation and comic-book
production, Beijing has now encouraged closer
cooperation with Hong Kong, to form a new "united
front" in the "war against Japanese invasion" - as
some jokingly put it.
The just-completed
eighth Hong Kong Animation-Comic Fair has
facilitated exchanges in the animation and comics
industry between the mainland and Hong Kong.
Some cartoons made in mainland China have
been brought to Hong Kong, and at the same time a
Hong Kong-made animation series was introduced on
CCTV during the summer vacation. It is the first
time Hong Kong cartoons have been broadcast
nationwide by CCTV.
Though heralded as an
integrated platform for business development and
sales in the mainland and Hong Kong, Chinese
analysts still worry that the fledgling industry
faces enormous challenges. Analysts say a talent
shortage at home is the major cause for weak
domestic production.
"Now domestic-market
demand for professionals in this industry is at
least for 250,000 persons," said Zhang Songlin,
deputy head of the China Animation and Comic
Society.
"Of the total, about 150,000 are
for cartoon films and TV series, and 100,000 for
computer games. However, there are only 10,000
college-educated animation-comic specialists
across China, just about one-third of the number
in South Korea. Each year, only around 300
students graduate [with] animation and cartoon
majors."
Now the animation-comics industry
has been listed as a key cultural industry to be
developed on a national level during the 11th
Five-Year Projection for Social and Economic
Development (2006-10). The State Council, China's
cabinet, published a circular in April to boost
the development of the domestic animation-comics
industry.
More than 20 Chinese provinces
have listed it as a new industry to be given
substantial support. Cities including Beijing,
Shanghai, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen
and Dalian have established their own
animation-comics production bases with
preferential policies. More than 200 universities
now have animation majors.
Compared with
other cities, Shenzhen provides greater incentives
for animation-comics businesses. The Yijin
Animation and Comics Base waives rent for three
years and gives cash awards to companies whose
products are broadcast on CCTV or local TV
stations. The Shenzhen government also provides
low-interest loans.
A total of 33
animation and cartoon enterprises, including 27
mainland Chinese and six from the United States,
Canada, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, are
part of the Shenzhen Yijin base, which kicked off
operations in May. Put together, they have a
registered capital of more than 1.1 billion yuan.
Meanwhile Shenzhen and Hong Kong have
decided to strengthen cooperation in their
animation and comics industry. A
170,000-square-meter comics and Internet-games
industry base was recently approved for the
Science and Technology park in Shenzhen's Nanshan
district. The two neighboring cities will invest
about 700 million yuan.
The cooperation
also includes professional training. It is
estimated that Shenzhen is short 10,000 animation
and comics professionals each year. A
cultural-development company based in Hong Kong
has signed a contract with a Shenzhen institute to
train about 120 advanced-animation and comics
professionals annually.
April
Cai is a freelance writer based in
Guangzhou.
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