Binjiang leads domestic animation industry
People queue up to attend the 17th China International Animation and Cartoon Festival in Hangzhou's Binjiang District.
The cartoon and video game industry in Hangzhou's Binjiang District is home to the nation's leading companies and talent.
Binjiang is also the main venue for the annual China International Animation and Cartoon Festival, which has been held for 17 years, and the China Cartoon and Animation Museum, the country's first museum in this industry.
This year's fair, held from September 29 to October 4, attracted industrial insiders from home and abroad and over 13 million visitors online. Companies from Binjiang displayed works brimming with technology and cultural significance at the fair.
Binjiang has been listed as a key area in Zhejiang Province's cultural and creative industry by virtue of its booming development of cartoon and video games, digital culture, exhibitions, industrial design and electronic literature.
Last year, the added value of the cultural and creative industry in Binjiang was 36.37 billion yuan (US$5.64 billion), jumping 15.8 percent from 2019. In the first half of this year, revenue of all cultural and creative companies in the district grew to 56.9 billion yuan, up 35 percent from a year earlier.
In 2004, the county's first national high-tech animation industry base was set up in Binjiang. Since then, a batch of noted companies has been incubated there, including video game giant NetEase, Wasu Media, Electronic Soul, Bianfeng and Zoland.
During the China International Fair for Trade in Services 2021, the Top 100 Digital Trade List of Zhejiang Province was released. In the top 10 video games companies section, Binjiang occupied four seats.
People take pictures of the cosplayers and the huge model of Iron Man.
The booming animation industry is attributed to the strong policy support from the district government. The Zhejiang Digital Culture International Cooperation Zone in Bingjiang was among the second batch of national cultural export bases, and it was also the only digital culture trade zone in China.
At present, the zone has formed a digital trade chain integrating digital technology research and development, digital content creation and digital culture export at the leading position of the industry in China.
In recent years, the district focuses on the "culture + technology" economic development mode, relying on "innovation, content, platform and talent" to promote the cultural industry.
The local government has enacted industry support policies that aim to position the region at the forefront of China's cultural and creative movement. It is offering subsidies covering rent, research and development, bank loans, conventions and exhibitions and tax reimbursement to attract more startups.
A 1,700-square-meter facility near Baima Lake has also been built to attract writers to set up studios. So far more than 210 noted writers have signed contracts with Binjiang.
The facility has developed into a bridge between writers and investors. So far, about 200 digital culture and filmmaking companies have negotiated with 100 writers. The companies are turning literature into video games, animation movies, TV soap operas and movies with a total transaction amount of over 300 million yuan.
"Tian Qi Jing Zhe Bian," adapted from writer Ami's novel of the same name, will debut on the video platform Tencent soon. Its second season is expected to begin shooting in November.
"I previously planned to forge an oriental cosmology in 10 to 20 years. However, ever since my studio moved to Binjiang, the process is speeding up. My intellectual property has seized the opportunity provided by local government and soon is transformed into a film," said Ami.
Cosplayers act the roles of domestic animations and games at the festival.
In the future, an industrial chain comprised of literature creation, copyright trade, TV adaptation, filmmaking and video games will be established to accelerate development.
Companies like Manhoo are attracted by Binjiang's favorable environment, industrial cluster effects and preferential policies. In 2019, Manhoo participated in filmmaking and created the visual effects of home-grown animation "Ne Zha," the highest-grossing domestically made animated film on the Chinese mainland.
Manhoo was established in Binjiang District seven years ago. So far, it has cooperated with online game tycoons NetEase and Tencent producing visual effects in popular games including Onmyoji and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.
In a bid to accelerate the development of the cultural and animation industry, Binjiang launched a one-to-one governmental service, dispatching government officials to visit each company, knowing their problems in operation and streamlining the process of application for subsidies. Last year, about 80 companies were subsidized.
