"After years of development, China's cartoon technology has greatly improved. However, we still see shortages in terms of innovation in the cartoon industry," said He Mengfan, president of the Hunan Greatdreams Cartoon Media Limited Company.

The company was founded in 2004 in Changsha, capital city of Central China's Hunan Province, one of the nation's most important cartoon bases.

The company focuses on research and development of computer animation software and the production of cartoon programmes.

Its first cartoon series, called "Homer and Landau Cartoon World," were produced according to the standard of Disney products, and it is broadcast daily for 22 minutes in more than 1,300 TV stations around the country.

"As there are more cartoon products being made in China, we need to develop more cartoon talent and build innovation capacity to further the industry's development," He said.

Currently as China's largest cartoon producer, the company will continue to focus on introducing talented professionals and technologies in the cartoon industry to sustain its fast growth, according to He.

"Besides innovation, we are also stepping up efforts to build a cartoon-related industry, including the establishment of cartoon theme parks," He said.

According to He, the company has co-operated with the Changzhou (China) Dinosaur Park to build a cartoon theme park in Changzhou of East China's Jiangsu Province.

Since the success of the Adventures of Qiqi and Keke, a cartoon series developed by the Greatdreams Co, the theme park has also become one of the hot tourism sites.

The Adventures of Qiqi and Keke feature stories of dinosaurs.

During this year's National Day holidays, the park received more than 30,000 visitors per day.

According to He, Greatdreams has also forged another company with the dinosaur park, to develop more cartoon-related products.

"The cartoon theme park has helped increase the reputation of our products, and further push forward the development of the cartoon industry," He said.

He added that another theme park, which will feature the company's series of the Homer and Landau Cartoon World, would soon be built in Zhangjiajie, a scenic site in Hunan Province.

Li Pin, president of the Sunchime Cartoon Group, another big cartoon producer based in Changsha, also said that building a cartoon-related industrial chain is of great importance to the industry's development.

According to Li, a theme park featuring Sunchime's Blue Cat cartoon series will also be built in the near future.

"Only through developing its related products and industries can the cartoon industry see a bright future," Li said.

According to Li, Sunchime Co has developed a series of cartoon-related industries, including research, development, publication, circulation and animation education.

"Our company is also engaged in cartoon-related products, including books, audio products, stationery, garments, horologe, food, soft drinks and electronic products," Li said.

According to Li, the number of products derived from the cartoon series made by the company totals more than 6,000.

The Blue Cat, China's first cartoon trademark created by Li's company, has generated more than 10 related stationery products, helping realize an annual sales revenue of more than 10 million yuan (US$1.25 million) for the company.

In 2005, the company realized a sales revenue of nearly 1 billion yuan (US$125 million).

The TV serial programme under the name of Blue Cat has so far notched up 2,000 parts, making it the longest running cartoon programme in the world.

"More than 6,000 Blue Cat-related products have been exported to overseas countries and regions, including the United States, the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, as well as China's Taiwan Province and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region," Li said.

In addition, the overseas copyright of Blue Cat has been exported to 15 countries and regions.

The company witnessed international recognition after signing a co-operative project with the Britain-based Eaglemoss Publications Ltd early this year.

Under the project, Blue Cat-related books will soon be published in Britain.

"Co-operation with overseas countries helps not only enhance our company's development, but also boosts the reputation of Changsha as one of the most important cartoon production bases in the nation," Li said.

Li attributed the company's success to ever-increasing technological development.

Sunchime was the nation's first company to set up its own cartoon software research and development department eight years ago.

After five years of efforts, the company has developed its own copyright of an animation software integrated system, according to Li.

"The software has greatly helped us shift from the traditional man-made mode to high-tech development in cartoon products, thus improving efficiency, "Li said.

Last year, the company invested 20 million yuan (US$2.5 million) in a high-tech animation receiving system, to increase three-dimension efficiency.

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