On September 29, visitors stopped to take photos at the check-in spot in front of the Chinese animation IP exhibition area at the entrance of Ziyang Fantawild Oriental Legend. Two days earlier, the inaugural "Chinese Animation Trend · ZiYoung" event concluded at this venue, attracting nearly 1,000 animation enthusiasts over a three-day period.

Scene from the 2026 Centenary of Chinese Animation and Symposium on the High-Quality Development of the Animation and Comic Industry

On the same day, several kilometers away at the Linkong Jinjiang Hotel, the 2026 Centenary of Chinese Animation and Symposium on the High-Quality Development of the Animation and Comic Industry was held. This national-level gathering brought together representatives from leading cultural enterprises, universities, and associations across the country. Digital cultural and creative enterprises accounted for more than 90% of attendees, covering emerging sectors such as animation, IP operations, trendy toys, and AIGC. Core entities from across the entire industrial chain gathered in Ziyang for the first time.

As the first national industry conference in the animation sector to be held in Sichuan during the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, why was Ziyang chosen? And what lasting legacy will this conference leave for the city?

In the broader landscape of Sichuan's animation industry, Ziyang is not particularly prominent: it lacks both well-known animation companies and phenomenal cultural products. So why was Ziyang selected to host this major event, which focuses on the centenary milestone of Chinese animation and systematically examines pathways for high-quality industrial development?

The statue of the Purple Bamboo Guanyin at Pilu Cave in Anyue County

Attendees unanimously cited the city's transportation advantages and strategic location. Situated in central Sichuan between Chengdu and Chongqing, Ziyang is the only prefecture-level city in the province that connects directly to both of these dual core cities. Its main urban area is just 18 kilometers from Tianfu International Airport. Four rail lines, including the Chengdu-Chongqing Passenger Dedicated Line and the Chengdu-Yibin High-Speed Railway, run through the city, while construction is accelerating on the Chengdu-Dazhou-Wanzhou and Chengdu-Chongqing Central Line high-speed railways. A comprehensive transportation network featuring "one airport, nine expressways, and nine rail lines" is taking shape at an accelerated pace.

The animation industry is typically intensive in talent, technology, and capital, with collaboration often spanning the Chengdu-Chongqing region and even the entire nation. According to attendees, whether it involves corporate collaboration, talent mobility, project implementation, capital matchmaking, or market expansion, all depend on efficient and convenient transportation support.

A Distant View of the Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts

Abundant cultural resources represent another key advantage. Outside the conference venue, performers in Sichuan Opera face-changing costumes interacted with guests, intangible cultural heritage inheritors demonstrated Anyue stone carving techniques, and attendees gathered around the Dongfeng paper-cutting display booth.

Ziyang boasts profound cultural heritage: Anyue is home to more than 100,000 statues dating back to the Tang and Song dynasties, renowned for being "ancient, numerous, exquisite, and beautiful". Multiple cliffside carvings, including those at Mingshan Temple and the Vairocana Buddha, have been featured in popular video games such as "Black Myth: Wukong". The Mengxihe Site Complex, dating back 50,000 to 100,000 years, was named one of the "Top 10 New Archaeological Discoveries in China for 2024". Li Xiang, Joint Chief Marketing Officer of Nanjing Xuanjia Network, noted that these resources provide rich source material for animation creation, game development, and immersive performances.

In recent years, Ziyang has accelerated its efforts to become a suburban tourism destination within the Chengdu metropolitan area, leveraging four major cultural and tourism brands: the Mengxihe Site Complex, Anyue Stone Carvings, the Former Residence of Chen Yi, and the Linkong "Tianfu Art Valley". Ziyang Fantawild Oriental Legend employs VR and holographic theaters to transform Bashu culture into immersive attractions such as "Shanhai" and "Grottoes Adventure," while the Zhenhong Alley district near the Former Residence of Chen Yi offers a youthful interpretation of revolutionary culture.

Ziyang's objective extends beyond merely hosting a national animation convention; it aims to convert industry resources into local projects.

Confidence stems primarily from talent. In May this year, Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts was approved as the ninth independent public professional fine arts academy in China. As one of the earliest universities in Sichuan to offer an animation program, it currently enrolls more than 2,300 students in animation and related digital arts disciplines, graduating over 600 outstanding students annually in fields including animation, gaming, and fine arts.

"Talent is the core of animation industry development, and our mission is to provide a steady stream of qualified professionals," said He Yang, Vice President of Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts. During their studies, students participate in real-world projects through university-enterprise co-built studios with companies such as Tencent Photon and NetEase Thunder Fire. After graduation, they join leading industry firms and contribute extensively to renowned projects including Honor of Kings and Ne Zha 2 This means that Ziyang holds not "students awaiting training", but rather talent equipped with industry-level practical capabilities ready to be deployed on projects immediately.

One detail from the conference left a deep impression. At the "Inheritance Renewal" Symposium on High-Quality Development of the Chinese Animation Industry, Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts established strategic university-enterprise partnerships with 15 digital cultural and creative companies. Near the conclusion of the session, a QR code for the "Inheritance Renewal" Animation Exchange Group appeared on screen, inviting attendees to scan and join. He Yang expressed hope that such pragmatic measures would build communication platforms between enterprises and between enterprises and educational institutions.

Beyond talent, platforms are equally critical. In April this year, the Tianfu Art Valley Chengmei Entrepreneurship Incubator opened in Ziyang's Linkong Economic Zone. With a total floor area of 8,839 square meters, the incubator welcomed its first batch of 25 cultural and creative enterprises, spanning sectors including culture and arts, intangible cultural heritage performances, creative design, digital content, and cultural consumption. This has initially formed an industrial cluster driven by the dual engines of artistic creativity and the digital economy.

From the perspective of provincial industrial planning, Ziyang's positioning is becoming increasingly clear. The city intends to leverage the strategic opportunity presented by the independent operation of Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts, utilizing the Tianfu Art Valley incubator and the industrial belt surrounding the academy to facilitate the model of "Chengdu R&D, Ziyang Commercialization". Simultaneously, by capitalizing on Anyue grottoes cultural data trading and Fantawild scenario-based projects, Ziyang aims to establish a differentiated chain for digital cultural and creative incubation and consumption.

Ziyang's goal is to accelerate its development into a key hub for Sichuan's digital cultural and creative industry. Since the beginning of this year, dozens of digital cultural and creative enterprises have established operations in the city, with companies specializing in AIGC, digital cultural creativity, and animation and gaming rapidly converging in this burgeoning hub. This year, Ziyang has opened new industrial tracks in performance events and cultural creative design through the deep integration of culture, tourism, commerce, sports, health, and agriculture.

"Ziyang enjoys locational advantages due to its proximity to Chengdu and Chongqing, possesses mature IPs such as stone carvings and lemons, and holds red cultural resources like the Former Residence of Chen Yi, providing a solid foundation for developing the digital cultural and creative industry," said Tong Yuan, Executive Secretary-General of the Dongguan Trendy Toy Association. He suggested that Ziyang could serve as a "later-mover hub" for the Chengdu-Chongqing region's digital cultural and creative industry, absorbing creative spillovers and talent flows from both Chengdu and Chongqing while leveraging its own cultural resources to create differentiated content, thereby finding entry points in niche segments such as trendy toys, animation derivatives, and immersive experiences.

"Ziyang has talent, platforms, IPs, services, and above all, confidence!" These words, spoken by a senior official from the CPC Ziyang Municipal Committee during the city's promotional presentation at the event, encapsulated the confidence behind hosting this major conference in Ziyang. Whether this confidence can be translated into tangible projects, and whether transient attention can be converted into sustained engagement, marks only the beginning of Ziyang's answer sheet following this landmark conference.

【本篇文字部分内容由 AI 辅助写作，特此声明。Please note: the text in this article was created with the help of AI.】