Snoopy, Pikachu, Boonie Bears... sensational global and domestic animated icons gathered at the annual anime fest — China International Animation Copyright Fair (ACTIF) — that kicked off in Dongguan, Guangdong province on Thursday.
In its 14th edition, this year the event showcases increased international elements, an expanded exhibition area for original content and art toys, and deeper integration of technology.
Open to the public for free, the four-day event is held at the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center, with an exhibition area of 20,800 square meters.
The expo features 1,600 international standard booths, showcasing over 500 enterprises and institutions from 60 countries and regions, as well as more than 1,500 intellectual properties — the most in history.
The organizers invited content producers, copyright holders or copyright agencies from the United States, Canada, Russia, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea to participate. Plans are in hand to foster strategic partnerships with renowned overseas film festivals, animation associations and exhibitions.
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A 450-square-meter Hong Kong Pavilion at the fair gathers exhibitors from 36 enterprises from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Hong Kong enterprises also showcased a lot of animation and game products based on popular local intellectual properties.
The display area for original animation content has expanded from 7,500 square meters to 9,000 square meters. The showcasing zone for pop toys also doubled in size from 1,500 to 3000 square meters, and a report on the development of China’s pop toy and animation industry was released at the event for the first time.
Another exhibition, which focuses on animation technology, introduces the latest digital technology and artificial intelligence tools in the creation of film and animation, such as voice-driven animation character generation technology.
One of the highlights of this year’s event, is a film week activity promoting animation movies in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. A framework agreement on animation film cooperation in the 11-city cluster was signed during the expo.
During the film week, nine classic animation movies from China, such as Monkey King: Hero Is Back, Lotus Lantern, The Legend Of Sealed Book, will be screened for free in cinemas and universities in the GBA.
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In addition to the core venue, related joint activities will be held across Dongguan from until December, including an electric sports carnival, an anime theme concert, and a dance competition.
Addressing the event’s launch ceremony, Dongguan mayor Lv Chengqi said that the city has embarked on a distinctive path of development, with animation and trendy toys as a focus. By doing so, the city has successfully fused traditional and modern elements to promote Chinese culture abroad.
At present, nearly 85 percent of the country’s pop toys are produced in Dongguan, and about a quarter of global animation derivatives are made in the city.
Ma Li, president of the China Animation Association, emphasized that Chinese animation has been widely embraced in recent years. It portrays traditional Chinese culture in innovative ways, offering audiences a deeper understanding of various facets of the country.
Ma pointed out that the animation industry is also facing new challenges, calling on practitioners to seize opportunities brought by the wave of technology to improve the ability of producing high-quality original content and enhancing industrial layout.
Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com
