Sponsored by the Chengdu city government in the capital of
Southwest China's Sichuan Province, the second Chengdu
International Digital Entertainment Week will be held in the
Chengdu Science and Technology Street from September 1 to 14.
A forum discussing the development trends of China's digital
entertainment sector, an e-game competition drawing participants
from South Korea and Russia, a display of famous digital products
and an animation and cartoon design competition and exhibition will
be held, said Zheng Heping, deputy secretary-general of the Chengdu
city government.
Hosting the digital entertainment week is an attempt to boost
the software sector in Chengdu, he said.
Manufacturing is Chengdu's strength. But the inland city is
thousands of kilometers away from the sea and its industries spend
at least 50 percent more on transportation than coastal regions. It
takes five days longer for products manufactured in Chengdu to
reach other countries than from coastal cities.
With the computer and Internet boom, in 2003 the Chengdu city
government decided to take full advantage of the city's scientific
and technological personnel to establish the software sector as a
pillar industry.
A traditional electronic industrial base in China, Chengdu is an
important educational and scientific research center in the
country. It has 33 institutions of higher learning and 70
scientific research institutes feeding its talent pool. The city
has some 630,000 scientists and technicians, the most in western
China.
(China Daily August 3, 2007)
