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On the morning of June 16, the iABC 2026 Launching Ceremony and Key Project Release was successfully held in Hangzhou. Under the theme of “Integration, Co-creation, Globalisation”, numerous industry leaders, scholars, college representatives, executives of leading companies, and professionals from industry organisations gathered together to explore key topics in the spectrum of digital content for the animation industry, including innovative cooperation, integrated development, and industry-education integration. Participants also explored how to create a virtuous circle consisting of IP creation and efficient conversion of communication impact into commercial value and drive the continued growth of the digital culture industry.
At the beginning of the conference, Li Ma, President of the China Animation Association, and Ekaterina Kondakova, Head of Business Development, Russian Export Centre, JSC, delivered speeches for their institutions, respectively.
Li Ma highlighted that, as the business segment of the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival, iABC2026 had become a key platform for connecting creativity and capital, works and markets, and China with the world. By strengthening collaboration across the entire animation and game industry value chain, iABC has become a key driver accelerating the evolution of Chinese animation from exporting products to expanding business models and building global brands. It also established a solid foundation for core areas such as industry-education integration, end-to-end industry collaboration, and international co-production and distribution, effectively driving the deeper integration of China’s animation and game industry into the global market.
Ekaterina Kondakova stated that, as the Sino-Russian Cultural Year continues to advance, the cooperation between the Chinese animation industry and the Russian animation industry is transitioning from content import to co-production and IP co-creations. Currently, many leading animation studios have reached co-production agreements with Chinese platforms and achieved impressive results. She expressed the hope that this conference would serve as an opportunity to further deepen cooperation between the two sides in areas including co-production, technological exchange, and copyright trading, while jointly exploring international markets.
As the upstream industry incubator, this year’s Animation Investment and Pitching Conference received nearly 100 project submissions and selected the Top 10 finalists after an initial evaluation. The conference held an on-site award ceremony to recognise the ten shortlisted projects.
At the conference, the AI comic drama Lantern Festival Joy was officially released. The work will make its global debut at the animation festival, marking the beginning of its international journey. In addition to the overseas popularity of its English-language print edition and micro-drama adaptation, it was also selected for the 2026 China Literature Overseas Readers Club International Communication Project.
Along with the accelerating reconstruction of the global animation industry landscape, overseas markets have become a key strategic location for Chinese animations to advance their branding. During the conference, Zoland Animation, Evolut Consulting, and MBAAmid the accelerating restructuring of the global animation industry landscape, overseas markets have become a key strategic platform for Chinese animation to advance its FILMS officially signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In the future, these three parties will closely cooperate in fields including educational content development, animation technology cooperation, and the establishment of an annual South Africa–China Animation Festival. At the same time, Zoland-Tika Animation Chinese Language School, a Chinese overseas distribution platform run by Zoland Animation, successfully signed strategic cooperation agreements with partners from Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Germany, Canada, and Vietnam. Building on Zoland Animation’s two decades of overseas promotion expertise and renowned animation IP portfolio, the platform will drive the global expansion of Chinese-language educational content through the integration of “AI + Animation + Functional Games,” providing services for nearly 210 million Chinese language learners worldwide.
Industry-education integration and college-enterprise cooperation are important pathways for driving high-quality development of vocational education animation. Later, the conference also held the Plaque Awarding Ceremony for “Top 50 Vocational Education Animation” Enterprise Recognition Award winners. Representatives from various colleges, including Hunan Arts and Crafts Vocational College, Guangzhou Polytechnic University, and Mudanjiang University, took the stage to receive the award. This event further enhances the cooperation between vocational animation education and industry development.
At the conference launch ceremony, guests from China and abroad, including Li Ma, President of China Animation Association; Ye Zhou, Member of the Leading Group Meeting of the Publicity Department of the CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee and Deputy Director of Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industry Development Centre (Hangzhou Animation and Game Industry Development Centre); Laiyuan Zhang, the Secretary-General of the Teaching Advisory Committee for Art and Design Programs in Vocational Colleges under the Ministry of Education; Irina Mastusova, CEO of Russian Animated Film Association; Nomsa Lebogang Chabeli, GCEO of SABC; Nadezhda Larionova, First Deputy CEO of ANPO MEC; Jianrong Wu, President of China Cultural Chamber of Commerce for the Private Sector, Vice President of China Animation Association, Chairman of the Board of Zhongnan Holding Group; Jun Wang, Deputy Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Hangzhou High-tech Zone (Binjiang) Committee, Director of the Press and Publication Bureau, and Director of the Cultural and Creative Industry Development Centre, pressed the button together and launched the iABC 2026.
During the Thematic Report Session, Ye Tao, Associate Dean, School of Art/Pearl River Film Academy of Jinan University; Professor and PhD Supervisor, released the China New Animation Mass Culture Innovation Index Report (2026). This report systematically reviews the current innovation landscape and development trends in Chinese animation in the context of emerging mass culture, providing important data support and decision-making references for formulating content strategies in the industry.
The Project Presentation Session showcased a series of exciting highlights. Jinwoo Hong, Manager of the Department of International Business, Y. GRAM, presented Unlocking the Future of Fandom: Next-Gen Content & the Global Digital Economy. Ozgul Aksoy, Founder & CEO of TOONXR ANIMATION, presented the animated project JOLLY PANDAS Curious OXO. Kaiyuan Kou, Head of AI Comic Drama Production, Zoland Animation, presented the case study, Opportunities and Challenges for Zoland Animation in the AI Era. These innovative projects clearly depicted the pathway for promoting high-quality development of the animation industry and the promising future of cross-sector integration of the animation industry.
iABC2026 featured an innovative lineup of 15 themed events, including dedicated showcases by enterprises from Moscow and other regions of Russia; the “Digital Intelligence for the Future - AI-Powered Pan-Animation Industry Exchange”; the Industry-Education Integration Conference hosted by the New Animation Research Group of Teaching Advisory Committee for Art and Design Programs in Vocational Colleges under the Ministry of Education; the One-YouTube: 2026 Google AIDC (Drama & Comic) Ecosystem Summit - Hangzhou (Closed-Door Session); the DOUJU AI Global Film and TV Creation Competition Launch. This year’s conference attracts professional delegations from more than 20 countries and regions, including Russia, South Africa, Turkey, and Hong Kong, and more than 1000 participants from universities and enterprises. It has successfully formed a comprehensive, multi-level, and internationalised industrial matchmaking framework and fostered an open and collaborative ecosystem platform that enables cross-sector integration and global connections. The two-day conference will officially conclude on the afternoon of June 17.