China Releases 12th Five-Year Plan for Animation Industry

July 16, 2012 Posted by China Briefing Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Yao Lu

Jul. 16 – Deemed as one of the rising industries that will improve China’s soft power and help guarantee sustainable economic development, the country’s animation industry has received greater attention and support from the Chinese government. Recently, China’s Ministry of Culture (the MOC) released the “National Development Plan for the Animation Industry under the 12th Five-Year Plan (hereinafter referred as the ‘Plan’)” to facilitate the healthy development of the industry.

The Plan points out the current situation of the industry, as well as sets up the development objectives for the 12th Five-Year Plan period. Moreover, it lays out the main tasks for the industry and puts forward safeguarding measures to facilitate the development of the animation industry.

Current situation
Currently, China’s animation industry is experiencing tremendous growth and development. The output value of the industry grew from less than RMB10 billion at the end of the 10th Five-Year Plan period to RMB47.084 billion in 2010, representing an average annual growth rate surpassing 30 percent. Moreover, during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the annual output of China’s domestic television animation increased from 80,000 minutes to 220,000 minutes, while the annual circulation of animation periodicals rose from 40 million to 100 million. The application of animation has also expanded dramatically in people’s daily lives, providing a good platform for the future development of the industry.

Even so, problems and inadequacies still remain in the current developing phase of the industry. Although output has increased, competitive works have yet to appear in numbers and the gap between Chinese and foreign markets remains large. Besides, the industry suffers from a lack of creative talent and internationally-influenced enterprises and animation brands, largely constraining the development of the industry.

Development objectives 2011-2015
According to the Plan, below are the key development objectives for the industry by 2015.

Building three to five leading animation industrial parks to serve as industry models
Producing 5,000 hours of animated content and 30 animated films annually
Cultivating 5 to 10 domestic animation brands and enterprises with international influence
Establishing three to five well-known exhibition brands for animation industry

Main tasks 2011-2015
As forwarded by the Plan, there are seven major tasks during the 12th Five-Year Plan period.

They are:

Guiding the production of original animation creation

Strengthening content guidance
Perfecting the evaluation system and incentive mechanism
Enhancing support and promotion for animation works
Strengthening the broadcasting system of domestic animation

Creating a system to make innovation profitable, perfecting the industrial chain of the animation industry

Playing an active role in the market mechanism and profiting from innovation
Playing a role in animation creation
Establishing and perfecting the animation publishing system
Developing film and television animation
Cultivating new-media animation
Encouraging the development of animation stage drama
Developing applied animation
Expanding the market size of animation derivative products

Optimizing the layout structure of the animation industry

Promoting the balanced development of the animation industry
Strengthening the construction and management of animation industrial parks and theme parks
Developing animation exhibition trading activities

Advancing the technical innovation ability of the animation industry

Strengthening the research and promotion of core techniques
Improving the public technical service support system

Implementing the strategy for key enterprises and major projects

Developing and nurturing market subjects
Implementing the major projects-driven strategy

Strengthening talent support

Establishing a talent training system for the animation industry
Improving the quality of animation education

Facilitating the animation industry to “go global”

Facilitating the export of animation products and services
Enhancing the international cooperation of the animation industry
Encouraging the animation industry to “go global”

Safeguarding measures

The plan offers five safeguarding measures to better facilitate the development of the animation industry.

Increasing financial input to the industry
Protecting intellectual property
Improving investing and financing policies
Implementing preferential tax polices
Strengthening organization and implementation

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