That same day, he toured Zhejiang Zhongnan Animation Co, now one of the largest original animation companies in China.

　　“Animation should not be measured purely in financial terms,“ Xi told Wu Jianrong, chairman of Zhongnan Group, of which Zhongnan Animation is a subsidiary.

　　“It provides young people with healthy spiritual nourishment. Chinese civilization has over 5,000 years of history — you can create animated works featuring our national heroes,“ Xi said.

　　Encouraged by Xi's remarks, Zhongnan produced a series of animations and began exporting them.

　　That year, Hangzhou hosted the inaugural China International Cartoon & Animation Festival, generating over 10 million yuan in on-site sales and 3 billion yuan in potential deals.

　　Xi later wrote to national regulators to help secure Hangzhou as the event's permanent home and supported the creation of a dedicated organizing office.

　　Hangzhou is now home to more than 270 animation and gaming companies, employing over 12,000 people. The city is the birthplace of the hit video game Black Myth: Wukong, and 227 internet-based animated series produced in the city were licensed in 2024, accounting for 34.45 percent of the national total.

　　Across Zhejiang, there are more than 300,000 private cultural enterprises — up from fewer than 45,000 in 2003.

　　Chen, the former vice-president of Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences, said that Xi's cultural initiatives during his tenure in Zhejiang and the landmark achievements in the new era highlighted the importance of sustained efforts to deliver cultural development outcomes that truly benefit the people.

　　“It also indicated that the implementation and evaluation of cultural initiatives should prioritize the production of more high-quality outcomes to meet the cultural rights and interests of the broadest segments of the population.“