Shenzhen Hosts Historic Debut: Greater Bay Area Animation and Video Game Festival Unites Hong Kong and Shenzhen Industries After 25 Years
An animation event that brings together top trendy products has become a popular place to check in during the Mid-Autumn Festival. From September 15th to 17th, the 2024 first Greater Bay Area Animation and Video Game Festival was held in Shenzhen. Exhibitors and performance guests from 9 countries including France, Argentina, Japan, and South Korea gathered in Shenzhen. The classic animation and music event “Asia-Pacific Cosplay Carnival”, card competitions, e-sports exhibitions, Mid-Autumn Festival Garden Parties and other special activities set the scene on fire, and “fun, fun, fun and fun” were celebrated during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The theme of this Anime and Video Games Festival is “A Good Comic Exhibition is Different”. It is guided by China Animation Group Co., Ltd. and co-organized by the Greater Bay Area (Shenzhen) Branch of the National Animation Creative Research and Development Center and the Hong Kong Anime and Video Games Festival Organizing Committee. This is also the first time that the Hong Kong Anime and Video Games Festival has landed in Shenzhen in 25 years. Many well-known Hong Kong toy companies, IP management companies and independent designers have come to Shenzhen to participate in the exhibition.
“The phrase ‘Once you come here, you are a Shenzhener’ attracted us.” Liang Zhongben, executive president of the Hong Kong Comic and Game Festival, said that the Hong Kong animation industry has developed very maturely over the past few decades. “At present, the Greater Bay Area market is becoming more and more attractive. We hope to bring the achievements of Hong Kong’s animation development to Shenzhen, promote the integration of the Greater Bay Area animation industry and cultural exchanges, and hope to discover and seize more opportunities.”
New product global debut
Targeting the consumption power of the Bay Area
This year’s Greater Bay Area Animation and Video Game Festival continues the branding and professional characteristics of the Hong Kong Animation and Video Game Festival. The world’s top trendy products are gathered, and many new models, limited editions, commemorative figures and exquisite peripherals are exhibited and sold at the same venue; popular IPs are strongly assembled, including Marvel, Transformers, Gundam, EVA, Disney, and Three Kingdoms series.
Hong Kong exhibitors gathered at the exhibition. The Hong Kong 3C Association and the Hong Kong Brand Toys Association brought many companies to participate in this animation and video game festival. The Hong Kong 3C Association organized well-known companies such as SUNRISEPOP, YOLOPARK, ZCWO, Killerbody, MAZZCOT, and ETL to participate in the exhibition. The Hong Kong Brand Toys Association organized a number of well-known toy companies such as Soap Tour Production Co., Ltd., threezero (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., D4 Toys, Tiantong Toys, Oriental Toys, and Hongxing Toys to participate in the exhibition.
Many new products were launched globally for the first time. At the booth, many comic fans lined up early, hoping to get the new trendy toys as soon as possible. He Chengxuan, vice president of the Hong Kong 3C Association, told reporters that many member companies brought new products this time, and a single company launched more than 20 new products at the Greater Bay Area Animation and Video Game Festival, some of which were launched globally for the first time.
The strong consumption power of the Greater Bay Area is an important reason for attracting Hong Kong companies to participate in the exhibition in Shenzhen. He Chengxuan said that the exhibition was held during the Mid-Autumn Festival and a large number of products were launched first, which of course focused on the strong consumption power and vast market in the mainland. “We hope that with the help of the exhibition, more consumers will know and become familiar with Hong Kong brands, and then buy them for collection.”
Zhuang Deren, vice president of the Hong Kong Brand Toys Association, found business opportunities at the exhibition. “I just met a client who really wants to have in-depth cooperation with us.” Zhuang Deren told reporters that the other party was impressed by the creativity of Hong Kong companies in cultural design and their deep cultivation in overseas markets. He hoped to achieve in-depth cooperation through the platform of the Anime and Video Games Festival and bring Chinese culture overseas.
It is worth mentioning that this exhibition is held during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The organizers set up a special area for “Chinese style check-in”, opened a “Mid-Autumn Festival Garden Party”, and invited well-known international trendy toy designers to launch limited edition Mid-Autumn Festival badges to “cheer up” for the traditional Chinese festival. Trendy toy designers from various countries cleverly incorporated traditional Mid-Autumn Festival elements such as the moon, jade rabbit, and moon cakes into the design, and designed limited edition Mid-Autumn Festival toys to express their respect for the traditional Chinese festival.
Shenzhen-Hong Kong Industrial Integration
Helping IP go global
This exhibition aims to create an international platform for the integration of the animation and video game industries. Peng Taimin, director of the Greater Bay Area (Shenzhen) Branch of the National Animation Creativity Research and Development Center, said that through the exhibition, the integration and development of animation creativity, digital technology, and cultural tourism industries in the Greater Bay Area will be promoted, and animation digital creative enterprises, projects, and brands will be helped to “bring in” and “go out”, thus enhancing the global influence of the Greater Bay Area’s animation creative industry.
Hong Kong’s deep cultivation in international markets such as licensing has undoubtedly provided the best path for brands in the Bay Area and even the whole country to “go global”. For this exhibition, the organizers have carefully selected brand exhibitors from the Hong Kong Comic and Game Festival, including the largest distributor of animation products in Hong Kong, Ruihuaxing, and the largest copyright agent in Hong Kong, Medialink Group, to exhibit IP products and authorized peripherals of internationally renowned brands.
“We used to bring in foreign brands; now, we are more focused on helping Chinese brands go global,” said Zhao Xiaofeng, executive director of Lingbang Group. The purpose of participating in the exhibition is to take this opportunity to get to know more brands in the Bay Area and lead local brands to “go global.” Not long ago, Zhao Xiaofeng took the original IP “Milk Dragon” created by a Shenzhen company to Malaysia for an exhibition, which was well received. “Chinese local brands continue to surprise people in terms of creativity and design. China’s trendy play power is getting stronger and stronger. We are very confident in helping Chinese brands go global.”
(Source: Shenzhen Business Daily)
Source: Shenzhen Business Daily
Original title: The first Greater Bay Area Animation and Game Festival was held in Shenzhen. The Hong Kong Animation and Game Festival landed in Shenzhen for the first time in 25 years. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong animation and game industry “harmoniously”
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