The city of Chengdu is setting a fresh trend in the creative world. On the evening of September 28th, as the Twin Towers lit up the night sky, the 2025 Chengdu International Digital Cultural and Creative Season was officially launched at the Jiaozi Music Plaza, kicking off a global spectacle of digital creative content.

The eye-catching ceremony was a stunning visual fusion of digital technology and Tianfu culture. In the eyes of Dalton Grant, a renowned American animation director and Disney artist, "Tonight is another 'highlight moment' for Chengdu's digital creative sector."

Long hailed as the "favorite city of the Post-2000 Generation", Chengdu has consistently led the way in defining "what's cool", establishing itself as a creative and industrial powerhouse that cannot be overlooked.

Photo/Zhang Jian (NBD)

Creativity: "In Sync" with Youth, Generating Super IPs

The launch ceremony for the 2025 Chengdu International Digital Cultural and Creative Season also kicked off the "Digital Creative · Glory Night", which gathered 28 local hit IPs, including Honor of Kings.  

From blockbuster game IPs like Assassin’s Creed, Raving Rabbids, Everything Is New, and The Twenty-Four Solar Terms, to classic film and animation IPs such as Shrouding the Heavens, God Troubles Me, and One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes, these IPs not only reflect the vitality of Chengdu’s digital creative industry but also the city's ability to maintain a deep "frequency alignment" with young people.

Like a huge "talent magnet," Chengdu continuously draws young people from all corners of the country to pursue their dreams. For instance, the upcoming "Anime New Horizon - The 21st Chengdu World Line Comic Convention" is considered a core, must-attend "hub" by the nation's two-dimensional community. It's essentially a "weathervane" for the domestic animation industry.

"A big label for Chengdu World Line, often mentioned by its users, is being the 'China's No. 1 Outdoor Venue,'" said Gu Haiji, Deputy General Manager of Chengdu World Line Culture Co. He explained that the immense plaza at the Western China International Expo City—the "outdoor venue"—holds more people than the indoor hall, creating a unique "Damaba" (open-air courtyard) comic con culture. This relaxed, free-spirited atmosphere embodies the character of Chengdu and is key to its appeal for young people.

As a veteran animator who is active in both China and the US, Dalton Grant has contributed creative work to world-famous animations like Shrek and SpongeBob SquarePants, and he excels at capturing industry frontier trends. This summer, he came to Chengdu to participate in the "International Salon for Sci-Fi Industry," discussing potential collaborations with local digital creative leaders.

In his view, "Chengdu is a city that strongly appeals to young people. That's why the animation industry here is so vibrant, creating many impressive works."

Photo/Zhang Jian (NBD)

Over the years, as one of China’s most dynamically developing creative economies, Chengdu knows how to truly speak the "language" of youth to create top-tier IPs and amplify them for global influence. Behind these top IPs is a rapid convergence of "creative brains", including leading gaming companies like Tencent, Seasun, Ubisoft, and Perfect World, as well as digital creative industry leaders such as Coco Cartoon and Star-Shine Century.

Industrial Power: Keeping Pace with "Cool", Cultivating More Diverse "Nezhas"

In 2024, the added value of Chengdu's cultural and creative industries reached 280 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.69%, with the number of digital creative enterprises surpassing 6,000.

Chen Qian, Secretary-General of the Chengdu Digital Cultural Creative Industry Association, commented on the event: "I believe this is a reflection of the overall competitiveness of Chengdu's digital creative industry. Our four key elements—cultural heritage, industrial advantage, policy advantage, and talent—have formed a synergistic development mechanism."

This comprehensive competitiveness is further supported by a continually improving cultural and creative industrial park ecosystem, akin to a tropical rainforest, which serves as an innovation platform leading the digital creative "trend".

Photo/Zhang Jian (NBD)

Moreover, Chengdu adheres to "long-termism", staying current with industry trends and continuously refining its "top-level design"—all to cultivate more diverse success stories, much like the mythological figure Nezha.

In the esports sector, for example, global leading esports company BLAST announced last month that it would co-host the BLAST DOTA2 SLAM in Chengdu this December.

James Woollard, BLAST's Director of Market Development, shared that "bringing BLAST's first stop in China to Chengdu is based on the city's deep cultural heritage, superior infrastructure, and increasingly mature esports atmosphere."

In the first half of this year, NIP Group, chaired and co-led by Mario Ho (son of the "King of Gambling"), signed an official agreement with the Chengdu Qingyang District government to introduce the NIP Group Esports Entertainment Complex, aiming to build a Southwestern esports headquarters and trendy consumption scene.

Behind the landing of a top-tier event and the layout of an esports complex is Chengdu's years of "deep cultivation" in the esports field. As early as 2020, Chengdu took the lead in proposing an innovative integration strategy, such as "Esports + Cultural & Creative" and "Esports + Technology," charting the course for the city's esports industry development.

This May, Chengdu launched a comprehensive digital cultural and creative "policy package," formulating categorized support measures for the gaming, esports, film, sci-fi industries, and digital creative startups.

Tracing the evolution of Chengdu's digital creative industry—its journey to continually lead "what's fashionable" and accelerate its upgrade—is a process where the city has actively released a series of "policy dividends" and consistently optimized its "top-level design".  

Photo/Zhang Jian (NBD)

In addition to "providing safeguards" for the cultural and creative industry at the "top-level design" level, Chengdu is also actively seizing the initiative in future industries and continuously improving the "Culture + Finance" ecosystem, providing precious "source water" for cultural and creative market players.

Taking the promotion of the 'Wenchuan Tong' and the launch of Copyright ABNs (Asset-Backed Notes) in recent years as examples, Chengdu has forged a differentiated, specialized path for cultural and creative financial services, offering richer financing channels and better development opportunities for high-quality creative enterprises.

The vigorous development momentum of Chengdu's digital cultural and creative industry is certainly not an overnight achievement. The city not only continues to learn the "language of the youth" but also advances "side-by-side" with what's cool, using a digital creative voice uniquely its own to showcase an uncommon blend of creativity and industrial power to the world.