GUANGZHOU: Quality, rather than quantity and originality, should be given utmost importance to the Chinese animation and comic industry, experts participating in the third Golden Dragon Awards said.

"Chinese animation and comic industry, which has a history of nearly 100 years, is still in an infantile stage despite that a large number of animation products have been made in recent years," said Liu Binjie, vice director-general of the General Administration of Press and Publication.

"We are in urgent demand of quality cartoon products. With their impact, we'd be able to develop strong momentum for Chinese animation."

Liu said this at a forum on development of Chinese animation industry on Tuesday in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province.

The forum, in which many international comic artists and experts from China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Malaysia are participating in, was part of events of the third Golden Dragon Awards, which will be permanently held in Guangzhou.

From the first release of cartoon products in 1926 to today's digital feature, Chinese cartoon products have consistently provided enjoyable alternatives to Hollywood animation both in content and style, Liu said.

"Although China produced almost 1,400 hours of cartoons last year, we still have seen much with high quality," Liu said.

Besides quality, originality is also identified as the key force which must be nurtured in the animation and cartoon industry, Liu said.

"To this end, we must develop more professionals in the animation and comic industry," Liu said.

Till date, a total of 44 universities around the country have set up a major in animation arts to cultivate potential producers.

Along with the forum, a nationwide cosplay invitation competition was also held in conjunction with the award event, which is dubbed as the "Oscars" for the Chinese cartoon industry.

Cosplay, also called "comic reality show" or "role play," is becoming a part of pop culture on the mainland.

Usually organized in the form of competition, the show features boys and girls dressed up to imitate figures in animation.

More than 200 "cosers" from Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Fuzhou and Hong Kong, have got together in the competition.

The first cosplay performance, based on an original Chinese animation called "Qin Shi Ming Yue," or the Bright Moon of the Qin Dynasty, drew most attention from audiences as it showed a remarkable development of comic culture in China.

Previously, cosplayed figures have all been introduced from Japanese comics, according to organizers.