In a forum called Advancement and Leap on Dec 27, Chinese professionals discussed current and future growth of Chinese comic and animation industry.Photo/Xu Xinlei

The city of Tianjin recently saw several Chinese comic and animation professionals gather in its city for the top Chinese comic and animation awards on Dec 27, an official project to celebrate their remarkable feats created over the past five years.

The newly established national award ceremony is an important step in sending the Chinese comic and animation industry into a steep economic takeoff and tap top cultural products and intellectual resources, said Cai Wu, the Minister of Culture.

Since China replaced central planning with a market economy and opened up to the world, it has witnessed amazing growth and has become a rising newcomer on the world stage.

China produced 385 animations domestically in 2010, reaching a combined 220,350 minutes, reportedly overtaking Japan as the largest producer in the world. At the same time, its output value jumped to 48 billion yuan, a 27.8 percent rise from 2009.

In addition, 24 producers produced an annual output over 30 million yuan, 13 of which reached 100 million yuan by the end of 2009.

Among the medal winners on Dec 27 was Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, a commercially successful Chinese animated television series. It has become a popularly accepted animation domestically. Its first movie, The Super Snail Adventure, was launched in January 2009 and raked in 30 million yuan during its opening weekend, a domestic box office record for a Chinese animated film.

Another recipient was Xia Da, or April, a Chinese animator who successfully serialized one of his works in Ultra Jump, one of Japan's most popular comic magazines.