Editorial Summary

The Fourth China International Cartoon and Animation Festival (CICAF) recorded a total transaction volume of RMB 3 billion from the signing of 23 projects, reports 17173.com. Held in Hangzhou from April 28 through May 3, the conference attracted 300 animation companies from 37 countries and regions for a total of 672,000 people visits, said the report.

Fuzhou-based online game company NetDragon (8288.HK) spent nearly RMB 2 million on April's nationwide online game and animation design competition "NetDragon Cup", according to the report. NetDragon president Liu Luyuan said the company hopes to find new talent through the competition.

Four-hundred and forty-seven Chinese colleges offer animation majors and 1,230 colleges have animation-related schools, according to Ministry of Industry and Information (MII) teaching center director Xu Yubin. Inexperienced online game designers earn monthly salaries of over RMB 3,000 while experienced designers can earn between RMB 6,000 and 8,000 and senior designers command monthly salaries of over RMB 20,000, said the report. China has less than 3,000 online game designers, according to the report.