Chinese children seem to be in more need of good cartoons than their peers in many other countries. They are almost always the only children in their families, especially those in cities. Facing a huge academic burden, many of these lonely kids take the cartoon time every evening as their most precious moment to relax.

However, domestically produced cartoons are far less than what is needed to fill the time slot television stations reserve for cartoons. Many foreign cartoons have been imported to fill the gap.

In addition, many Chinese-made cartoons are not appealing enough. This greatly affects the availability of financial resources.

Chinese policy-makers at different levels have recognized the animation industry's commercial and cultural values and are seeking ways to promote its rapid growth.

Ten central government departments jointly announced a package of policies to promote the industry's development.

Chinese companies such as computer game producer Shanda have achieved tremendous success in sectors close to cartoons, a feat that prompted suggestions that these companies could make inroads into the animation industry with the capital and expertise they have accumulated.

The most urgent task for producers and artists in the industry, however, is to break the traditional bridles limiting creativity in the sector. There has been a long-held belief in China that the prime task for books, TV programmes and even music for children is to educate to deliver knowledge, to instil moral standards and other types of values.

TV programmes, of course, are also expected to shoulder the great mission of imparting Chinese values through the most popular mass media.

It is not wrong for these works to educate. But this role should not necessarily mean that children's books cannot be a good read or that cartoons cannot provide our kids with fun.

However, without programmes that can keep children in front of television, even the most noble values will never make their way to the children's hearts.

Traditionally, the main audience of TV cartoons are children between ages 5 and 15. However, since late last decade, these children remain cartoon fans even after they become older than 20. This has posed a new challenge for cartoon artists to face audiences of a more complex age structure, who have different and higher demands in terms of creativity and artistry.

Source: China Daily