China’s animation and comics sector has seen roaring growth in recent years to become one of the stalwart segments of the country’s cultural economy, despite ongoing declines in animated content output since 2012.
The latest data from the State Administration of Radio and Television (SARFT) indicates that the output of China’s animation and comics industry hit 150 billion yuan at the end of 2017, accounting for 24% of the country’s 630 billion yuan culture and entertainment sector.
At the end of April the 14th China International Cartoon and Comics Festival held in Hangzhou saw record high spending of 16.3 billion yuan, with the participation of 2,641 Chinese and foreign enterprises and over 5,760 displays from 85 countries and regions around the world.
While China’s animation and comics industry have emerged as an increasingly important part of the cultural economy, the Chinese government is also striving to “remove capacity” by reducing dependence upon government subsidies and placing greater emphasis upon quality content.
SARFT data indicates that in 2017 China saw a 30.2% decline in the volume of television animation content produced, to 83,599 minutes from 119,895 minutes in 2016. Since 2012, China has also seen six consecutive years of declining animation content output.
