F REIGN TRADE - 中国国际贸易促进委员会

Industrial WatchCREATIVITYShort films show strong life during fairIndustrial WatchMore than 1,000 short films from the Chinese mainlandand overseas were assembled in Shenzhen, Guangdongprovince, on May 17 and 18 for the third China InternationalNew Media Shorts Festival and KingBonn Award Competition,China Daily reported.The annual event, put on by the State Administration ofRadio, Film and Television and the Shenzhen government since2010, attracted almost 30,000 short films from 63 countries thisyear. Awards in 11 categories will be given to the best of them,going to the films deemed to be the best dramas, animations anddocumentary shorts, among other superlatives.The biggest award will go to “the Best Short” and willcome with 300,000 yuan ($47,000) in prize money.Beyond winning awards and gaining international exposure,film producers who attend the event are also looking forbusiness opportunities.Zheng Dingwen, deputy general manger of ShenzhenMedia Group, the main organizer of the festival, said, “I havea feeling that people came last year just to be onlookers but thisyear have come with more real intentions to buy. The potentialbuyers are mainly traditional TV stations, big video websites,and the most popular products are short dramas and animations.“Short films are a new offering and have only become popularin the last two or three years, but the future for them is verybright. It’s a trend that is keeping up with changes in our lives.”Zheng said China Mobile in 2010 introduced a programcalled GkerGshooting, which allows subscribers to shoot videosusing their mobile phones and then upload them. The programgenerated 5 million yuan in revenue in its first year and morethan 60 million yuan in its second.“It (the film festival) presents a good opportunity,” said LiXusheng, general manager of Shenzhen BOX Digital Animation.For a second year in a row, he has come to the festival topromote his short 3D animations, which he makes money fromby implanting ads in them.“Several companies and organizations contacted me afterthe event last year with the intention of cooperating, includingsome from France and Hong Kong,” he said. “They want to selltheir short films through our channel.”Comment In the fast-paced society, the appearanceof short films satisfies people’svarious needs with their flexibility.Animation industry “still lagging”T h e animation and cartoonindustry is booming in Chinabut experts say there is still a longway to go before it will make a bigimpression on the internationalmarket, according to a ChinaDaily report.A total of 260,000 minutes ofanimation material was producedin the country in 2011, an increaseof 18 percent from 220,000minutes in 2010, according to theState Administration of Radio,Film and Television. The growth isalmost twice as much as the increase in China’s gross domesticproduct last year of 9.2 percent.However, experts said the gap between Chinese andforeign markets remains huge and the domestic developmentis not only constrained by lack of talented and creative peoplebut also the absence of a complete industrial chain.“We have seen significant growth in quality and quantityof the made-in-China products. However, there is a long wayto go to before the nation can take a strong role in the internationalmarket,” said Jin Delong, director of the publicitymanagement department at the State Administration of Radio,Film and Television during the 8th China InternationalCartoon and Animation Festival.The festival is the largest of itskind in China and involves seminarsand exhibitions. It is held annually inHangzhou, Zhejiang province. Thisyear’s event ended on Thursday.“Many products can be furtherimproved in terms of content anddesign. Currently we have very fewproducts that qualify as special. Manyare mediocre,” Jin said.In 2011, the cartoon and animationindustry garnered a revenue of 60billion yuan (9.52 billion U.S. dollars).In contrast, the sales reported by Walt Disney Co reached 40billion U.S. dollars last year.Experts said the lack of a complete value-making chainhas become problematic for Chinese animation and cartoonmakers seeking profitability. Currently, many companies expectprofits to come from broadcasting.Comment China is a large country of animationworks, but not a strong one. To speedup the development of this industry, a completevalue-making chain is necessary.40