2024“Magic Eyes” China (Hangzhou) International Children’s Comics Contest

NOTICE

I. About ICCC

China International Cartoon and Animation Festival (CICAF), the annual Hangzhou-based and China’s only state-level show of this type first launched in 2005, is the world’s largest and most popular gathering with great influences over the community of cartoon and animation. The festival is also a trading event on the A-list of “Go-Global Program for Chinese Culture”, a part of China’s “Outline of the Program for Culture Reform and Development” for the 12th, 13th and 14th Five-year Plans.

The China (Hangzhou) International Children’s Comics Contest (ICCC) is jointly organized by the Executive Committee Office of CICAF and China Association for Children’s Plastic Arts, hosted by Hangzhou CICAF Convention & Exhibition Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou Youth & Children’s Center, and co-organized by People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries of both Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou. Being a signature CICAF event, ICCC is the one widely participated by children and teens across the globe. It is also one of the most anticipated international cultural events in China, and a platform for exchanges among comic enthusiasts in China and the rest of the world. The event, with contestants from across the five continents, has been hosted in close to 30 regions worldwide. ICCC has, since established, drawn more than 440,000 individual contestants and over 9,000 teamed contestants. Contestants from overseas have contributed over 15,000 entries, while some 50,000 copies of ICCC prize-winning albums have been published in 18 volumes. The first annual tour exhibition on prize-winning entries, to widen ICCC’s global influence, were staged in 2014. More than 10,000 select works, over the past 170 exhibitions, have been on display in Chinese cities and other countries or regions, such as Malaysia, Germany, Japan, Russia, Singapore, Hungary and South Korea.

ICCC puts originality first and gives a theme for contestants every year, ranging from the Chinese culture to imagination on the future, humanity and environment. Eminent cartoonists at home and abroad, like Han Meilin, Zhu Deyong, Wong Yuk-long, Cai Zhizhong, Dan Kuah (Singapore), Paul Boey (Malaysia), Lu Haiyan, Tao Xiaoming, Murong Yindao, Shijiufan, Misha and Xiaoshili, were in the judge panels.

ICCC made itself online first in 2021, covering entry collection, interactions, selection and exhibition, etc. To further identify and improve entry originality, the online placing competition for supreme prizes was introduced in 2022, testing contestants’ quick response and basic drawing skills. ICCC this year will cover contestants from all 34 provinces of China and have competitions in more countries, including Italy, Brazil, Germany and South Korea. 

For ICCC 2024, contestants are requested to register online. The entries will be judged online, and the supreme prizes will be determined through an online placing competition. A high-profile award ceremony and prize-winners’ exhibition will be held during the CICAF. Please check details as below:  

II. Organizers
Executive Committee Office of the CICAF

China Association for Children’s Plastic Arts

III. Hosts
Hangzhou CICAF Convention & Exhibition Co., Ltd.

Hangzhou Youth and Children’s Center

IV. Co-organizers
Zhejiang Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries  

Hangzhou Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

V. Supporting Organizations

Zhejiang Zoland Animation Co., Ltd.

Wit & Humor

Art Kingdom

Shandong New Wintree Art Supplies Co., Ltd.

Giotto (Italy) · Lyra (Germany)

Hangzhou Miya Haimi Culture Co., Ltd.

VI. Contest Timeline

Registration & entry delivery: March 6 ~ April 10, 2024

Initial review: April 12 ~17, 2024

Final review: April 19 ~ 24, 2024

Online placing competition: May 11 or May 18, 2024

Award ceremony: June 2, 2024

VII. Eligible Contributors
Anyone under 18 years old (born after March 6, 2006)

VIII. Theme (choose one from the following options)
1. If I could travel through time

2. Chinese surnames

3. Pets 

IX. Admission

Please log onto the website https://comic.cicaf.com to register and submit your entry.

X. Contest Rules

1. ICCC contestants shall be classified as Kids (primary school students and preschoolers aged 1 to 13) and Teens (junior and senior middle school students aged 13 to 18).

2. ICCC contestants shall compete in their real names and attest and affirm the originality of their entries. Any entry guilty of plagiarism shall be disqualified and the contestant shall not be allowed to register for ICCC within two years. All consequences arising from any infringement of the legal rights of others regarding the entries shall be ascribed to and assumed by the contestant himself/herself.

3. The online placing will remain for this year’s ICCC. Thirty gold medalists will be nominated to participate in this contest for the Supreme Prize, thus examining their response and basic drawing skills. Plan for the placing will be separately unveiled.

XI. Requirements for Entries

1. Only handmade entries are acceptable. Co-authored works, colored works on printed sketch, AI works, or electronic drawings are ineligible.

2. An ICCC entry shall be creative and theme-positive in any form. Single-page comics, four-panel comics, comic strips, picture book and other innovative comics, whether black-and-white or colored, are acceptable. A single-page entry shall be sized from 20×30cm to 40×55cm with no framing. A picture book should be bound with no more than eight pages (no requirement for binding form), sized between 15×20 and 30×40 cm, and uploaded page by page.

XII. Entry Specifications

1. Only ONE entry shall be submitted by each contestant. The full name of the coach shall be specified.

2. Please upload the entry in JPG format with the size ranging from 2M to 10M. Entries photographed by cell phone or camera are acceptable.

3. Entries of more than one contestant from the same organization shall be allowed to upload when the organization has had them all registered. Please upload by sharing the QR code on the registration page or copying the link.

4. Please upload your digital entries from March 6 to April 10, 2024 (the date of uploading shall prevail).

5. The ICCC Organizing Committee will send a notice to the contestants, requesting them to register and deliver the original copy of their entries to compete in the Final when they are shortlisted for the Qualifier.

XIII. Prizes

1. We offer 10 Supreme Prizes.

2. We offer Gold, Silver, Bronze and Merit Prizes respectively granted to 2%, 3%, 5% and 10% of the total entries.

3. Prizes will be prioritized to story entries, like four panels, multi panels and comic strips, to encourage children to create or adapt comic scripts.

4. A prize for organizational excellence will be granted to any company contributing no less than 100 entries or winning prizes at a high rate.

5. A coaching prize will be granted to any art coach of Supreme and Gold Prize winners.

6. We offer a prize for the best contest region in recognition of their excellent performance in event organization and publicity, and their contribution of no less than 500 entries with a high rate of prize winning.

7. An ICCC certificate will be presented to each winner, and prize-winning entries will be placed into an album. The award certificates and album this year will be delivered in a digital format.

XIV.. Agreement

1.      No entry shall be returned. The author shall agree to transfer the ownership, the rights of publication and exhibition and other rights of his/her entry to ICCC organizers and hosts.

2.      After entries are shortlisted, failure to mail the original works within the specified time will be deemed as withdrawal.

3.      There is no charge for ICCC participation.

4.      All contestants shall be deemed to concur with the provisions above.

XV Contact Information

Wang Zhan: 0086 (571) 85821032 / 0086-13336036997 (same for WeChat) (days off on Monday and Tuesday)

Chen Jie: 0086 (571) 87029773 (days off on Saturday and Sunday)

Fan Zhenzhen: 0086 (571) 85828161 (days off on Monday and Tuesday)