Dongguan city in southern Guangdong province is hosting the weeklong China International Animation Copyright Fair starting Wednesday.

The third of its kind in the city, the fair will have 1,300 booths with more than 200 exhibitors from the local and overseas animation industry showcasing their work on more than 70,000 sq m of space. Major companies participating include US-based media company Disney and Japanese player Bandai, as well as Guangzhou-based Creative Power Entertaining Co, the company behind the popular Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf Chinese TV animation series. Deals worth more than 8.9 billion yuan ($1.39 billion) were inked at the previous fair last year, organizers said.

"The fair offers a great platform for the animation industry and many opportunities for businesses to network. The forums during the event will also see many experts in the field giving their take on the future of the industry. One of the major issues we will be looking at is the need to push the Chinese brand forward, new growth models and the challenges of new media," said Yan Xiaokang, Dongguan vice-mayor, and deputy head of the fair's organizing committee, during a press conference before the start of the event. Dongguan is home to more than 1,000 animation-related enterprises.

Dennis Chau, vice-president of Character Voices International Asia-Pacific (business consulting) under The Walt Disney Company (Shanghai) Ltd, said the fair is a channel for his company to boost its Chinese presence. Its booths include showcasing popular characters from its Toy Story and Cars films as well as Winnie the Pooh bear.

"Children are still the main audience for the Chinese animation industry, but we are trying to get more members of the family to enjoy animation like how it is in the US. We hope our offerings during this fair brings a fresh perspective and pushes forward the development of the industry," he said.