China recently added another animation copyright trading platform in Jiangsu province, giving impetus to the country's long-struggling animation industry, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The English-language free-of-charge trading portal, named Kungfu World, allows Chinese animation copyright owners to sell their works but is only open to professional buyers overseas.

The platform, established by Shuzhou Kungfu Animation, is devoted to gathering China's best animation works, integrating the industry's upstream and downstream resources and creating a fair and diversified business environment, according to the company.

"The traditional copyright trade model is time-consuming, inefficient and inconvenient," Zhao Honggang, general manager of the company, said at the launch ceremony for the portal on Thursday. "The copyright owners need to mail samples and other materials to potential buyers in China and foreign countries, which not only increases the costs but also makes it difficult to forge cooperation."

Zhao said Kungfu World aims to serve as a bridge between Chinese cartoons and global purchasers. The portal, in accordance with international standards, provides three episodes of each animation TV series to facilitate cost-saving and help global buyers place orders.

As of August 2016, the trading portal is expected to attract over 300 Chinese animation TV series and films. Currently, about 100 works from more than 20 animation companies are featured on the platform.

In addition, the website will also provide online lessons and training for Chinese copyright owners, such as sharing the world's latest animation copyright trading information and teaching small and medium-sized companies how to avoid trading risks.

"Chinese original animation works are rarely seen on overseas mainstream media. One of the major reasons is that most of the copyright owners do not know the needs of overseas markets," Zhao told Suzhou Daily.

Kungfu World plans to invite important global buyers to help Chinese animation companies better learn the demands of international markets in terms of creativity, production, soundtracks and promotion.

It also plans to organize offline activities such as exhibitions, corporate matchmaking and forums.

In the future, the portal will develop more derived and value-added services ranging from copyright trading risk evaluation to copyright registration consultation and financing, Zhao said.

Zhao started his career in the animation industry in 2006, immediately after his college graduation, although he studied business English at Soochow University in Jiangsu.

"I am a cartoon fan and was fascinated by Calabash Boys, Ultraman and Astro Boy, three classic cartoon TV series familiar to people who were born in the 1980s, in my childhood," he said. "The central government was promoting the development of the animation industry in 2006 and Suzhou became a national base of the industry in 2005."

In February 2014, Zhao started the animation company in Suzhou as a subsidiary of the Kungfu Animation Group in Quanzhou, Fujian province.

In addition to maintaining the trading portal, the company plans to next strengthen cooperation with other Jiangsu companies to develop the local market and aims to grow into a leading animation company in the province, Zhao said.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

An animation derivatives fair in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, attracts visitors. Kungfu World is expected to change traditional animation copyright trade models.Provided To China Daily

(China Daily 08/12/2015 page17)