China should build several animation theme parks like Disneyland in order to boost domestic demand amid global economic recession, suggested a top political advisor.
"The current international financial situation provides an opportunity for China's cultural industry, given the examples of the post-Great Recession booming of Hollywood and the fast growing animation industry in Japan after its bubble economic crisis, " said Li Yang at a meeting of the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
A national flagship animation group should also be set up as soon as possible, optimizing the social resources and offering more jobs for college graduates, said Li in a rarely seen Mao suit, who is most famous for his voice in the country for successfully dubbing the Disney figure Donald Duck.
He criticized that Chinese animation industry has wasted a huge sum of money, churning out mountains of low quality products to spoil the country's fame.
Currently 447 out of more than 2,300 colleges and universities in China offer academic training on animation. Over 50,000 majored in animation graduate from college each year. China expects a record high of 6.1 million college graduates rushing into the job market this year.
(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2009)