Surging demand on the mainland leaves highly lucrative industry with a chronic shortage of experienced professionals
A huge leap in domestic demand has resulted in a chronic shortage of professionals in the booming animation industry on the mainland.
It is believed that this sector requires 150,000 skilled professionals but, with only 30,000 in the trade and only a few hundred animation majors graduating each year, the situation has become desperate.
Publishing and technology companies have been forced to collaborate more closely with educational institutions, with some establishing their own training schools to deal with the demand.
More mainland-created animation is shown on domestic television stations and, since the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television opened up the domestic cartoon industry to private investors in 2004 - and with the formation of 15 animation production centres in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Dalian and other cities - the industry has begun a push towards world-class standards.
But mainland animation has not become strong enough to block out foreign competition, and the ability to compete on the same stage as American heavyweights, such as Pixar or DreamWorks, may still be more than five years away.