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TV Tokyo Establishes Subsidiary for Joint Animation Production in China

TV Tokyo announced on Wednesday that it is establishing a new company in Hangzhou, China in February. The company will focus on producing animation projects jointly with major Chinese production companies, as well as license management within China. Yukio Kawasaki, the head of TV Tokyo's anime and licensing divisions, will manage the new company. TV Tokyo will invest 2 billion yen (about US$18.24 million) as capital stock for the new company.

TV Tokyo already has a separate Hangzhou-based company focused on anime merchandise sales and licensing. Both companies will coordinate efforts in the future.

TV Tokyo reported in October that its animation division earned 11.6 billion yen, or 16% of the company's total sales, for fiscal year 2019 in the second quarter. The company cited the growth of overseas business as a factor for its animation business' strong performance. The company reported domestic sales of 3.359 billion yen (about US$31 million), an increase of 1.5%, and overseas sales of 8.277 billion yen (about US$77 million), an increase of 28.6%. TV Tokyo sales were strong in Asia, particularly China, and North America. Sales for the Naruto franchise's games were large in China. As a result, the overseas sales of the company's animation business amounted to 71.1%.

Source: Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)