The 8th China International Animation & Cartoon Festival (CICAF) closed Thursday in Baima Lake Ecological Creative City, a major site for cartoon and animation industry in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
The six-day carnival included exhibitions, forum discussions, contests and other activities. Some 2.08 million people from 61 countries attended the festivities, including those held in the main and side venues that hosted 461 domestic and foreign exhibitions.
Exhibition grounds this year covered over 80,000 square meters, with exhibitors including Japan's Shueisha, Hong Kong's Trade Development Council and other industry leaders around the world.
The festival aims to promote the continued development of China's animation industry. The U.S.'s DreamWorks Animation, Motion Picture Association of New Zealand, French Annecy International Animation Festival, Greece European Animation Center and 10-plus world-renowned animation institutions took the chance to discuss cooperation and development. In all, the event produced 165 business contracts worth a combined 10.4 billion yuan (US$1.65 billion), with the on-site transactions of 4.2 billion yuan, an increase of 14 percent over the previous year.
"Angry Birds" developer Rovio Entertainment announced it will open retail stores in China's first- tier cities. Famous Hong Kong cartoonist Tony Wong and Yuhang Tourism Investment Group signed cartoon theme park projects with a total investment of 2.51 billion yuan.
In addition, organizers of the festival said that the China Animation & Cartoon Museum, with total investment of 1 billion yuan, will be build at the Baima Lake and could be receiving visitors next year.