Dramatic rise in movie, TV production

The city of Hangzhou has long been known for its natural beauty, a renown now translated to its creative industries following a national plan unveiled two years ago.

In Xihu, the largest district in the city, the creative industry generated nearly 13 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) last year, accounting for 27 percent of the district's total GDP.

The target has been set at 15 billion yuan this year, some 30 percent of the district's total GDP.

The Xihu government has invested more than 400 million yuan in the sector since 2006, and started an annual 80 million yuan fund to provide financing to small-and medium-sized cultural enterprises.

Its strategy includes attracting top specialists and experts to create leading enterprises and influential works.

The Xixi Creative Industry Park in a national wetland is one of the district's driving forces in the movie and TV industries.

Covering less than a square kilometer, the park has attracted dozens of well-known masters including writers Yu Hua and Cui Wei, painters Pan Gongkai and Wu Shanming, and Taiwan cartoonists Chu Tak-Yung and Tsai Chih Chung. A number of leading scholars including British economist John Hawkins and Chinese-American ethicist Tu Weiming also work at the site.

The park is also the headquarters of eight movie companies that together have an annual production capacity for five movies and 800 TV drama episodes. The park's moviemaking industry generated 375 million yuan in production value in 2010.

The Tsai Chih Chung Cultural Center in Hangzhou Zhijiang Culture Town is named after the Taiwan cartoonist. Nearly 200 franchised products are sold in the center, including his comic books and derivatives of his works on products such as vases and business card folders.

- Zhang Zhao

(China Daily 10/19/2012 page10)