"The ratio between our overseas work and original programming is one to one," said Jiang Toon Animation Chairwoman Zhu Youlan, one of the largest animation firms in China. "We are doing this work to be able to pursue our original animation dreams."

Due to the ban on imported animation airing in prime time, the channels' needs for domestic cartoons exceeds 400,000 minutes a year.

Total domestic animation output reached 130,000 minutes in 2008, up from 81,000 minutes in 2007 and 42,000 minutes in 2006.

Several companies expanded as a result of the demand but, according to Ouyang Yibing, vice-chairman of the China Animation Association, that was not necessarily a good thing.

"Many companies do not have the potential to fully explore the market or enough capital to support their productions and are not making valuable or interesting programs," he said.

A recent survey, conducted by Sina.com, found that 51.9 percent of 1,100 respondents preferred foreign animations, 23.5 percent favored domestic programs, and the remainder said it depended on the content.

Sixty percent of respondents between the ages of 10 and 30 insisted they preferred foreign animations, demonstrating that foreign cartoons still dominate the Chinese market.

Questions are being asked why Kung Fu Panda, with its obvious Chinese themes and appeal to the domestic market, came to be made by the West.

With a population of 367 million people under the age of 18, it's a question many want answered.

SARFT stipulated in 2004 that China's animation industry's earnings should be at least 1 percent of the nation's gross domestic product after an initial 10 years of development. This would create a market worth more than 200 billion yuan. The industry's total output was only 20 billion yuan last year.

(China Daily May 18, 2009)