A one million yuan (US$128,000) reward will be given to the best domestic cartoon at the third China International Cartoon and Animation Festival in Hangzhou from April 28 to May 5 this year.

"The best domestic cartoon award is up 380,000 yuan from last year and 13 other awards will be granted to works from both home and abroad." the event's organizing committee announced on Thursday.

The festival will also feature an international cartoon and animation industry exposition, a forum on the cartoon and animation industry and a cartoon character parade. The week-long festival has been lumbered with the slogan "colorful cartoon, harmonious life".

World famous cartoon producers from France, Japan, the United States, Hong Kong and Croatia were invited to join the second China International Cartoon and Animation Festival in Hangzhou last year.

In 2006, China's cartoon industry produced more than 81,000 minutes of animation 2006, almost double that of 2005, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) statistics showed.

But foreign cartoons, especially from Japan, are popular with China's 250 million children, and domestic animation studios are struggling to compete with a flood of imports.

Analysts say that Chinese cartoons need to be more original with better story lines.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2007)

2005 International Animation Festival in Hangzhou