Independent Intellectual Property Becomes an Important Criterion for Cartoon Enterprises

March 15, 2009

On January 1, China’s Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Finance and its State Administration of Taxation co-released the Determination and Management Methods on the Cartoon Enterprises (Trial).

This aims to assist China’s cartoon industry in China and put preferential financial and tax policies into effect. Those authorized cartoon enterprises are now able to enjoy these preferential financial and tax policies, with a “cartoon enterprise certificate”, “key cartoon enterprise certificate”, “annual independent intellectual property products list” and “key cartoon products certificate”.

The criterion requires that independent intellectual property revenue should account for 50% of a company’s total revenue. It also adopted strict regulations on the independently researched and produced cartoons noting that if cartoons were simply changed or stipulated from foreign cartoons, without any intellectual property and core competence, then they would not be recognized as independent.