The Development Status of China's Animation Industry's Foreign Trade

（1） The industrial scale is steadily expanding, and the trend of "full age" development is gradually emerging

With the continuous improvement of the content production strength of China's animation industry, coupled with the guidance of national and local policies and financial support, China's animation industry has entered a stage of rapid development. From 2015 to 2021, the total output value of China's animation industry has been increasing year by year, and even maintained growth for the first time under the influence of the epidemic in 2020 and exceeded 200 billion yuan. In 2021, it continued to rise to 238.1 billion yuan. Although it fell back to 221.2 billion yuan in 2022, it still exceeded 200 billion yuan and showed an overall growth trend, demonstrating the huge development potential of China's animation industry (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 Total output value of China's animation industry from 2015 to 2022

From the perspective of audience positioning, the trend of "full age" development in China's animation industry is gradually emerging. With the rise of Chinese animation, the attention of the animation industry continues to increase, and the age range of consumer groups is gradually expanding from young to adults or even all ages. Young users represented by "post-95s" and even "post-00s" have become the main consumers of the animation industry, rather than only children watching anime works. From the perspective of national policies, the government is also actively guiding the diversified development of the animation industry market. For example, the "14th Five Year Plan for Cultural Industry Development" released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2021 proposes to actively promote the development of the entire industry chain and all age groups in the animation industry. The early Chinese animation market was almost dominated by early childhood anime works such as the "Boonie Bears" series, "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Big Wolf", and "Gourmet Rhapsody of Big Ear Tutu". However, phenomenal anime works such as "Journey to the West: The Monkey King Returns" in 2015, "Big Fish and Begonia" in 2016, "Coco" imported in 2017, and "Ne Zha: The Birth of the Demon Child" in 2019 have made a strong impact. The label of "low childhood" in China's animation market is gradually being torn off, and the trend of China's animation industry shifting from "low childhood" to "full age" is gradually emerging. 'Full age' does not mean only creating works with the characteristics of 'family fun', but also means' age segmentation 'and' subdivision ', so that consumer groups of all ages and knowledge levels can find anime works that meet their aesthetic preferences.

（2） The downward trend in import scale has slowed down, and Guoman remains the main player in the domestic market

In recent years, the import scale of Chinese animation has gradually declined, and Chinese animation has gradually replaced imports. In 2019, the import value of animated TV programs decreased from 2.506 billion yuan in 2018 to 1.083 billion yuan, and the proportion of total TV program imports in that year also decreased from 69.50% to 65.90%. In 2020, under the influence of factors such as the epidemic, the import value of animated television in China further decreased to 458 million yuan, and the proportion of television programs in that year decreased to 47.60% (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: The import value of animated television in China from 2012 to 2021 and its proportion to the total import value of television programs for that year

As for animated films, according to the data released by the Lighthouse Professional App, it can be seen that due to the rise of Chinese animated films, a group of high box office and high rated phenomenon level domestic animated films have emerged in China's animated film market. Therefore, in 2019, although the number of imported animated films reached the highest level in history, the proportion of box office to China's animated film box office still dropped to a low point. From 2019 to 2021, the import scale has significantly decreased in both the number of imported animated films and the proportion of box office revenue to the total number of animated films in China that year. The proportion of quantity and box office revenue has decreased from 55.56% and 38.33% in 2019 to 33.85% and 22.35% in 2021, respectively. In 2022, the proportion of quantity and box office in the import scale both increased slightly, rising from 33.85% and 22.35% in 2021 to 37.10% and 39.24% respectively (see Figure 3). The top grossing imported animated films in 2022 are DreamWorks Animation's "League of Bad Guys" and classic top IP series such as Minions and Detective Conan, reflecting the competitiveness and box office appeal of these old top IP animated films in the Chinese market. However, overall, the domestic animated film market is still dominated by Chinese animation. In 2022, domestic animated films "Boonie Bears: Return to Earth" and "New God List: Yang Jian" both achieved good box office results, with 977 million yuan and 555 million yuan respectively.

Figure 3: The number of domestic animated films released, the number of imported animated films, and their proportion to the total number and box office of animated films in China from 2015 to 2022

（3） The overseas business is becoming increasingly mature, and all parties are helping to welcome the outbreak period of overseas expansion

With the rapid development of China's animation industry, the topic of Chinese animation going global is no longer a new one, especially since 2019 when Chinese animation has been on the rise. During this period, excellent domestic animation works such as "The Return of the Monkey King", "The Battle of Luo Xiaohei", "The White Snake" series, and "Assassin Wu Liuqi" have successively gone global and gained international recognition. At the same time, the overseas business has become increasingly mature, mainly reflected in content and management. Chinese animation has comprehensively gone global in terms of creation, marketing, and distribution.

From the perspective of content, we adhere to creating high-quality output, while continuously improving animation production techniques, emphasizing Chinese elements, and showcasing the charm of Chinese culture to overseas with unique styles and themes. Chinese animation works are gradually exploring aesthetic styles with Chinese characteristics, no longer simply imitating foreign works. For example, "White Snake: Origin" incorporates the ink style of Chinese painting, which is characterized by minimalist line elements and black and white tones; The particle ink painting style and exquisite 3D technology used for the first time in the 2023 animated film "Deep Sea" have captivated audiences both at home and abroad, and successfully entered the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival as an original 3D animation. In terms of creative methods, in recent years, there have been many excellent animated works created through Sino foreign co production. For example, in 2019, the animated film "White Snake: Origin" was nominated for the "Animation Oscar" at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. In 2022, the Sino Portuguese co production animated series "Panda and Luta" selected by CCTV Animation was awarded the Outstanding International Communication Work of 2021. Chinese domestic animations such as "New God List: Nezha Reborn" and "Jiang Ziya" were nominated for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France in 2020 and 2021, respectively. At the same time, this creative model is also supported by the state. On November 18, 2022, the State Administration of Radio and Television announced the "2021-2022 List of Chinese and Foreign Television (Network Audiovisual) Co production Projects", among which three anime works, "Inventor's Creative Paradise Adventure", "Little Bear Reading Club" and "Call for Super Potatoes", were shortlisted. The Sino foreign co production creative method greatly broadens the international perspective of China's animation industry, promotes cultural exchanges with foreign countries, reduces the impact of cultural distance to a certain extent, and improves the recognition of overseas works.

From a business perspective, marketing and distribution companies are constantly expanding their overseas presence, promoting international cooperation, utilizing online platforms to expand overseas marketing and distribution channels, and increasing the overseas influence of their works. In 2022, Kuaikan announced at the Chinese animation press conference that the overseas version of the app was officially launched. Kuaikan has established partnerships with over 100 overseas distribution channels and exported more than 450 Chinese anime works overseas. Many of these works have been translated into 12 mainstream languages and cover nearly 200 countries and regions. The animation "Heavenly Official Blessing" produced by the overseas version platform of Bilibili Comics has been launched on international top video platforms such as Funimation and Netflix, and has entered the top 10 views of Netflix in Southeast Asia. The animation "Invincible Deer Squad" produced by iQiyi has been broadcasted in over 160 countries and regions worldwide through both iQiyi's international version and overseas distribution, promoting content overseas through the platform. The continuous progress of creators and platforms, as well as the support of national policies, jointly promote the maturity of overseas business and help to welcome the explosive period of Chinese animation works going global.

（4） Digital empowerment of animation development may usher in new opportunities

Against the backdrop of the country's guidance for high-quality development of cultural digitization and the implementation of digital strategies for cultural industries, the field of digital cultural trade is accelerating innovation and developing rapidly. Since 2021, the concept of metaverse has rapidly emerged, endowing cultural content with new connotations and value expressions in digital virtual form. This may also be a new opportunity for the development of the animation industry, as innovation will empower upstream content production, midstream content dissemination, and downstream derivative monetization. From the perspective of the metaverse, the use of technologies such as AIGC, blockchain, and digital virtuality can inject new vitality into the creation and innovation of anime content. For example, AIGC technology can be applied to the creation of comics, such as "life to life comics". Users only need to upload photos, then click on the screen, and within a few seconds, the system can automatically generate anime style images. For creators, metaverse technology may make anime creation more efficient, allowing them to invest more energy in creative core processes that machines cannot replace, and shorten the production cycle of anime works. In addition, metaverse technology can provide anime consumers with an immersive viewing experience. On November 4, 2022, the first VR interactive comic book in China, "Exploring Spirit VLOG," was launched. Through VR headsets, the original characters, props, and scenes in the comic were 3D processed, combined with enhanced sound effects, greatly enhancing immersion. In the context of the metaverse in the future, the new visual effects brought by 3D processing and sound effects, enhanced interaction through controllers and panoramic perspectives, and novel comic narrative methods will give the anime industry stronger creativity and appeal.

The problems faced by China's animation industry in the development of foreign trade

（1） There is an age barrier among the audience, and the development path of "full age" anime works is hindered

In recent years, Chinese animation companies have increasingly incorporated adult elements into the production of anime works, making the themes and types of Chinese anime works more diversified, and the trend of "full age" development is gradually emerging. However, at the same time, some Chinese anime deliberately imitates elements of Japanese and American anime through exaggerated expressions and external forms, resulting in violent, dark, terrifying, spoof, satirical and other elements in the works, which are considered to have negative effects on children and teenagers who are not yet mentally mature. For example, the highly controversial film "Chinese Bizarre Tales" released in January 2023 was even reported by parents for its horrifying and frightening visuals that had a negative impact on children's values. However, from the perspective of adults, the production effect of this work has a strong Chinese flavor. For example, the second episode "Goose Goose Goose" inherits the mysterious and blank features of supernatural novels and traditional poetry, calligraphy, and painting from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and explores desire in the form of nested dolls, which arouses people's deep thinking and resonance. It is a good work.

（2） Continuous shortage of high-quality original IP supply

With the rise of Chinese animation, the number of Chinese anime works has gradually increased. However, the frequency of phenomenon level domestic anime IP works such as "Ne Zha: The Birth of the Demon Child", "Journey to the West: The Monkey King Returns", and "Douluo Continent" is not high, and most of these works are adapted from mythological stories or online novels. Truly creative high-quality original IP cannot be continuously supplied. There are two main reasons for this problem.

Firstly, there is a shortage of high-end creative talents. Although the number of animation majors offered by domestic universities is gradually increasing, the teaching level of these universities varies greatly, and the talent training system and evaluation mechanism are not perfect, resulting in an excess of basic talents and a shortage of high-end original talents. Currently, excellent universities such as Communication University of China and Beijing Film Academy are providing creative talents, but the growth of talent numbers cannot keep up with the current speed of development of Chinese animation. Secondly, the short-term profit driven nature of capital has led to insufficient original motivation for animation companies, limited scope of script materials, and insufficient depth of cultural resource development. Due to the long production cycle and high cost of an excellent original animation, there may be investment risks caused by the fact that the work that requires effort may not meet the audience's aesthetic preferences well. Therefore, most companies choose to directly select materials from a few classic mythological stories, repackage and upgrade them, and then promote them to the market, without grasping the core of the story and deeply understanding and innovating the cultural content. The deep development of single source materials and lack of cultural resources will lead to serious homogenization of works, resulting in aesthetic fatigue among domestic and foreign audiences, and a serious waste of cultural resources, which is not conducive to the internationalization of Chinese culture and Chinese comics.

（3） The international marketing and operation system needs to be improved, making it difficult to support the large-scale overseas expansion of Chinese animation

Although there have been video platforms expanding overseas in recent years, the number of overseas users covered is relatively small. Due to cultural differences and other factors, the marketing and communication effects of Chinese anime works overseas are not satisfactory. The international influence of domestic anime works and the demand for purchasing Chinese anime on international platforms are not sufficient to support the large-scale overseas expansion of Chinese anime. At present, the marketing and operation system of Chinese anime works overseas is not yet mature. Most works are first verified in the domestic market, then dubbed and localized in foreign languages, and finally exported in the form of complete works. Under this overseas approach, Chinese anime works are unable to conduct quarterly releases and diversified marketing, coupled with the low international recognition of the works due to Mandarin dubbing, which affects the exposure and discussion heat of the works. At the same time, there are not many stable and effective marketing channels for China's animation industry overseas, and there are problems such as insufficient local market promotion and construction.

（4） The lack of standardization in the market for new concepts such as metaverse hinders the path of digital empowerment

The market for new concepts such as the metaverse in China is still in its early stages of development, and there are many risks and issues related to information security, financialization, speculation, and intellectual property protection. For example, in recent years, there have been certain illegal fundraising phenomena in the development of new concept markets such as the metaverse. Some activities often attract social funds under the guise of "metaverse investment projects" or "metaverse blockchain games", and there are certain unreasonable fundraising methods. This has a significant impact on the overall development of China's animation industry and the "going global" of animation products in the future. The relevant departments in China should increase their efforts to standardize the construction of new concept markets such as the metaverse, and provide a favorable environment and system to empower the development of foreign trade in the animation industry.

Suggestions on promoting the development of foreign trade in China's animation industry

（1） Establish and improve the anime grading system

Although China's animation industry does face age barriers on the path of "full age" development, in the long run, the audience of anime works should not only be children or teenagers, and the market should develop diversely. The development of adult works should not be stifled in the cradle by a "one size fits all" review system.

To this end, on the one hand, we can start from the selection and creation of works, and produce more high-quality "family friendly" works suitable for audiences of all ages to watch together. Especially, we can consider producing more science fiction themed works, because they can stimulate the curiosity and imagination of young people to explore the mysteries of science, have educational significance, and can conform to the mature rational thinking mode of adults. They can convey serious themes such as human civilization and values of good and evil from a science fiction perspective, bringing visual and spiritual shock, and to some extent, meeting the aesthetic needs of audiences of all ages. For example, in recent years, the science fiction series "Boonie Bears" has achieved impressive box office and word-of-mouth with its "family friendly" movies "Return to Earth" and "Bear Heart".

On the other hand, we need to accelerate the establishment and improvement of the animation grading system. During the 2023 National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Jiang Qi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, submitted a proposal on establishing a classification system for anime in China as soon as possible. He suggested drawing on foreign classification systems and combining them with China's national conditions to establish its own animation classification system. The review criteria and media platforms could be roughly classified according to the type of audience, and the anime to be reviewed could be divided into various works suitable for different age groups, rather than simply "banning" or directly deleting "inappropriate" content. After review and supervision, works of different types and levels can only be broadcasted on corresponding standard media platforms. For example, animation works that are not suitable for children to watch are only allowed to be broadcasted late at night after children fall asleep or on designated platforms with emphasis on parental supervision. At the same time, it is emphasized to incorporate the grading system into the legal system to regulate and supervise the animation industry from a legal perspective. However, in addition to government supervision and review, the implementation of the system also requires efforts from all parties, such as: film, television, and animation creators consciously complying with content production standards; The playback platform strictly limits the age of the audience corresponding to different works being played; Parents actively cooperate with supervision and identify works suitable for children to watch. The establishment and improvement of this system can enable various excellent anime works suitable for audiences of all ages to have a development market and space, promoting the true "all age" development of the anime industry.

（2） Improve the talent cultivation system for animation and provide policy guidance to support original animation

The cultivation of high-end creative talents requires joint efforts from various sectors of society, such as the government, research institutes, enterprises, universities, and industry associations. To this end, multiple resources can be integrated, such as building a training platform for students through industry university research cooperation. Universities focus on cultivating students' innovative thinking abilities, encouraging them to actively participate in domestic and international study abroad programs, and encouraging teachers and students to broaden their horizons; Enterprises provide joint training and internship bases, actively offering high-value projects that can enhance students' creativity and practical abilities; The government and industry associations actively initiate support programs such as the China Youth Animation Directors Support Program, fully mobilizing the enthusiasm of creative talents to showcase their talents. All parties in society cooperate to improve the training system and jointly explore potential high-end animation creative talents.

In addition, policy support can be given to diversified excellent story theme projects, which can to some extent solve the problem of high production costs for original works by enterprises and stimulate creative motivation. For example, the "Original Power" China Original Anime Publishing Support Program and the Chinese University Anime Publishing Incubation Program "guide enterprises to broaden their horizons in material selection, deeply develop representative local ethnic cultural resources in various regions, and even draw on excellent cultural resources from other countries around the world for the integration of Chinese and Western cultures, rather than just creating around a few classic mythological IPs. The focus is on horizontally diversifying the development of more excellent stories and character images, while vertically deeply understanding their cultural connotations.

（3） Strengthen international cooperation and local operation construction

Improve the overseas marketing system for Chinese animation works. Firstly, marketing channels can be expanded through international cooperation with global streaming platforms or local television stations. For example, Netflix, Funimation, and others have streaming operation networks covering multiple countries and regions around the world. Domestic anime works can increase their exposure and popularity overseas through them. Secondly, we need to do a good job in localizing and operating our works for overseas expansion. Firstly, the dubbing and localization of the work. Actively collaborate with well-known and highly recognized voice actors in the local area, while preserving the Chinese characteristics of the work itself and integrating local features, supplemented by high-quality foreign language voice acting, to cultivate the voice habits of overseas audiences. Secondly, platform localization. Utilize local users' favorite social media platforms to establish direct connections with animation audiences, laying a solid audience foundation for the promotion of the work. Thirdly, localize the promotion strategy. Consciously study the characteristics of local culture, market, users, industry, etc., find suitable and effective marketing and promotion focus points and entry points, and adopt promotion strategies that are suitable for the local area. For example, when "White Snake: Origin" went to Japan, it used the first full-length color animated film called "White Snake Legend" for promotion. This strategy fully tapped into the potential audience of the work and found the localization foothold of the work.

（4） Effective market regulation and gradual opening up in parallel

Market restrictions will reduce market vitality and hinder the development of industries. Although regulation is necessary, only effective regulation can contribute to the sustainable and healthy development of the industry. So the prerequisite for market liberalization should be to first improve the regulatory system of the market as soon as possible, and at the same time choose the appropriate time to gradually open up the market. In terms of regulation, the first step is to strictly review the professional qualifications of enterprises and establish an admission mechanism, which can avoid the phenomenon of premium and speculation caused by low-quality works entering the market, and harm consumer rights. Next is to address the issue of intellectual property protection. By utilizing blockchain technology to improve the copyright review mechanism, strict scrutiny is conducted on the source and authorization of original works, in order to prevent infringement and safeguard rights protection after infringement. At the same time, specific provisions are made in the authorization agreement to define the ownership of intellectual property rights, such as describing the terms of whether the product purchaser obtains complete copyright and secondary creation rights at the same time, and whether the original creator has copyright rights in the secondary market; By utilizing blockchain technology and smart contract encoding, equity distribution can be automatically achieved. For example, smart contracts based on the Ethereum EIP-2981 standard can automatically allocate a portion of the product's subsequent sales revenue to the original creators, enabling them to obtain profits in the secondary market. Finally, it is necessary to use the law to provide institutional guarantees and improve the relevant legal system as soon as possible in order to effectively implement the system. The resolution of intellectual property issues is a necessary condition for the gradual opening up of the secondary market. Finding the appropriate timing to gradually open up the market under proper regulation is a good strategy for the development of metaverse products and empowering animation with digital technology.