Shanghai, China and Burbank, California – The Walt Disney Company in China has announced its role as a founding partner of “The Animation Creative Research and Development Cooperation” initiative together with the Ministry of Culture’s China Animation Group and Tencent, China’s largest internet service portal, at a signing ceremony held in Beijing.

The initiative aims to advance the animation industry in China, train local talent and promote the development of Chinese content and franchises to an international standard.

“The National Animation Creative Research and Development initiative is focused on nurturing local talent and recognizes the importance of developing original local animation content,” said Andy Bird, Chairman Walt Disney International. “As founding partner, we look forward to working with China Animation Group and Tencent in taking Chinese stories to China and the world.”

Under the initiative, Disney will provide expertise in the areas of creative concept development specifically in the areas of story writing, screening, story refining, market research and the creation of international standard IP to foster local content and franchise development. Content developed can ultimately be created for all mediums including TV, motion pictures, and digital platforms.

Tencent, one of China’s largest and most used Internet service portals will provide expertise in eMarketing for sourcing creative public voting, promotion and online testing.