In summation animation production in China is alive and doing very well. The cost factor is still favorable for labor when compared to Korea, Taiwan and certainly Japan. The number of animators has grown substantially over the years and with the largest population in the world today, it seems that the talent pool will continue to grow to fill any foreseeable needs of the industry.

If there is a downside I would only say that the animators in China must become more integrated with the product they are producing. The system of paying artists in China is similar to the systems used throughout Asia in television animation. Animators, background and layout artists are given nominal salaries but really make their living on a piece rate or footage system. In other words, the more they produce the more they earn. This system is effective but has some built-in problems. If artists feel no connection to the work they are doing and derive no pride or enjoyment from their efforts, they will naturally produce at the lowest and fastest possible level of acceptance. While this is unfortunate, consider if you were asked to make a film in a language you couldn't understand, had no idea what the story was about, and never saw your work fit into the final product after you were finished. Further consider that for most of your life you had little or no knowledge of the humor, history or art of the culture for which the film was intended. Unlike Japan, Taiwan, Korea or the Philippines, China has only recently been exposed to our culture. I believe however that this problem is solving itself as young artists continue to come into the industry, and as long as China keeps its window open to the world.

Television and Cable Industries in China
If the animation production business in China has grown and matured, the broadcast side of the business has shot off like a rocket. New broadcast groups are forming daily and Chinese television, once a wasteland of tractor repair programs and Communist Party talking heads, is reinventing itself feverishly.

During my early years in China I often watched CCTV (Central Television) for a lark. If I had understood Mandarin (all CCTV is broadcast in Mandarin), I could have learned a great deal about how to cure swine diseases, increase the yield of my rice crop, better serve the Communist Party or decrease the rodent infestation in my city or town. If I wished to be entertained I might get lucky and see some ballroom dancing, acrobats or watch a lady in a People's Liberation Army uniform sing an uplifting song about a hero of the revolution. I was often glued to the set.

The Chinese television system was simple. You had CCTV broadcast throughout the country on one and then later, two stations. Secondly, you had provincial television stations which, if possible, were even more bland and unexciting, broadcasting local programs and controlled by provincial government agencies. The key word here is controlled. In a country where no one was quite sure from day to day what was permissible, risk-taking was not a trait to be encouraged. All local broadcasters took their cue from CCTV, and Central Television walked and talked nothing but the straight and narrow party line.

Today, hundreds of television stations now compete with one another across China. CCTV now has 12 stations in its network and last year reported revenues of 2.8 billion RMB (divide by seven for dollars). Shanghai Television has its own Sesame Street show for kids, in Chinese. Chinese broadcasters are showing up at NATPE, MIP, Annecy and other television markets around the world appearing ready to do business. Chinese agencies are even inviting outside industry trade delegations to visit and help promote the growth of the industry within China. What's going on? What happened to all those great shows on tractor repair and where's the guy who used to urge me to stay on the socialist path? Well, I think they're still around somewhere but they've been lost in the explosion of programming that is sweeping across this huge and ravenous country.

Before I attempt to explain why I believe this has happened, let me first touch on the new broadcast groups themselves. First and still the leader, is the official broadcast arm of the Chinese Communist Party, our old friend CCTV. Central Television is the BBC of China. It is operated by the Central Government and has by far the largest footprint within China. Now expanded to 12 stations, it generates revenues from advertisers while continuing to receive government funding. Being the official government television broadcast group, it has the advantage of producing more original programs than the other network groups with the Bureau of Radio and Television Broadcasting doubling CCTV's budget for new programming from last year. Next, as far as size, is probably the City Wireless Network which pieces together over 200 stations throughout China. This group consists of many provincial and city broadcast stations and has grown a great deal in a short amount of time. Possibly the most aggressive and popular broadcaster in China is Shanghai Television. A second broadcaster in the same area is Oriental Television, also based in Shanghai. Both of these groups are also government controlled but operate with greater entrepreneurial freedom. Following the Shanghai groups are Beijing Television and Guangdong Television which have strong local followings in their regions.