In order to raise new talents for its own anime, manga and game industry, China will build its first "Anime, Manga and Game Talents Center" in Haidian District, Shanghai.

Source: QianLong Beijing News

From The Anime Blog comes an interview with Chinese doujinshi artist Yang Fan, who drew illustrations for Chinese magazines such as Comics King and XinGanXian, and is currently working on tarot cards for Sega's online game Three Kingdoms.

Also featured is an interview from December 2006 with an artist who goes by the name Apricot.

The organizers of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo are soliciting ideas for a mascot. According to the announcement, this "contest" is open to organization and people from around the world, from professional designers to anime and manga artists. The deadline is May 31st, and the winning proposal will received 200,000 yuan (~$25,000). The official rules can be found here (an English version should be available soon).

The 3rd China International Animation and Cartoon Festival will once again take place in the city of Hangzhou (Zhejiang province, 2 hours' train ride from Shanghai) from April 28th to May 4th.

This year's events will be divided into four main sections. The "exhibition section" will feature industry expo and activities; the "forum section" will feature discussion groups and industry conferences; the "competition section" will feature manga contests and cosplay contests; the "activities section" will feature a movie week as well as various other activities.

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2006 was a bad year for manga publications in China. Major magazines and anthologies were either discontinued or went on an "indefinite hiatus." Some say 2006 marks the lowest point of China's manga magazine market.

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In 2005 China's cell phone e-book market was estimated to be over 720,000 (around 92,000 USD) Yuan. According to reports, with the rapid growth of anime and manga in China, this year the market could be well over 31,660,000 yuan (around 4,000,000 USD), and in 2010 over 624,000,000 yuan (around 80,000,000 USD).

Source: Tech-ex

In November, the Golden Dragon Award's organization committee awarded the "Chinese Anime and Manga Life Achievement Award" to the late Chinese comic artist Liao Bing Xiong, who passed away on September 22nd, 2006 at the age of 91. Liao Bing Xiong was famous for his political satires, his works were centered around politics and human rights issues.

The Golden Dragon Award is known in China as the "Anime Oscar," and over 60 works and 30 artists participated in this year's award event. Many foreign works also appeared in this year's award, including Ice Age 2 and Death Note the movie.

Source: Star Daily

According to People's Daily Japan, Beijing Film Academy has introduced a new category, Nihon Taishi Prize (Japan Ambassador Prize) to its Beijing Film Academy School of Animation Award. The prize was awarded to the head of the Japanese Embassy's Public Relations and Culture Department, who attended the award ceremoney on December 3rd.

With over 50 years of history, the Beijing Film Academy is the most prestigious film school in China. The Beijing Film Academy School of Animation Award was established 8 years ago to promote creativity and production of animations.

Official versions of Oh! Great's popular manga Air Gear has been announced in China. The manga can also be purchased through China's online DigiBook Service.

Source: Sina Anime

Ao Yu-hsiang, a Taiwanese mangaka known for his long-running Chinese comedy Oolong Yuan, recently celebrated his 50th birthday.

Ao Yu-hsiang has created over 200 works in the last 30 years. His most popular series, Oolong Yuan (?????????), has a worldwide circulation of over 20,000,000 volumes. Today, Ao Yu-hsiang is called by many Chinese fans as the "God of Chinese Comic."

To celebrate Ao Yu-hsiang's birthday, a special "Oolong Yuan Art Collection" artbook will be released. The artbook will contain various colored artworks and short stories from the Oolong Yuan series.

Also, last Thursday it was announced that Oolong Yuan will be adapted into an 52-episode anime TV series in China next month.

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