The First International Animation and Cartoon Festival in China has closed on Sunday in Hangzhou, the capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province.

Inaugurated on May 31, on the eve of International Children's Day, the six-day festival aimed to enable cooperation, competition and development between cartoon organizations from home and abroad.

An animation industry exposition was held during the festival, which featured a two-day summit forum, animation contest, Cosplay (costume play) show, a week-long screening of classic Chinese animations, meetings of animation businesses, merchandising, and a job fair.

The festival is the first country-level animation expo in China and also the largest animation expo of the country.

China has a population of 370 million children and young people, making up a huge audience for animation. Last year, the cartoon industry in China was worth 8 billion yuan (US$967 million), and it is expected to near 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) by the end of 2005.

(China.org.cn June 6, 2005)