On the morning of 28 November, the 6th Annual Conference of Chinese Animation Research and the 2021 Forum of Animation and Digital Media Arts Committee of Chinese Collegial Association for Visual Art was held online by the School of Film and Animation of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts. Communication University of China, Chengdu University, Contemporary Cinema magazine, the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts and other relevant leaders attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. The opening ceremony was hosted by Guo Daorong, the vice president of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts and executive dean of the School of Film and Animation of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts.

At the very beginning of the opening ceremony, Yu Junjian, a renowned singer and Dean of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, first extended a warm welcome to the guests. He pointed out that, the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts has made outstanding achievements in faculty building, artistic talent training, social science research and the integration with The Belt and Road Initiative during the four years since its establishment, exerting great influence both domestically and internationally. He said that with the support of leaders at all levels and experts and scholars from all walks of life, the Annual Conference of Chinese Animation Research has been held for five consecutive sessions and has been highly recognized by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA), the Ministry of Education's Steering Committee for the Teaching of Animation and Digital Media in Higher Education Institutions and the Chinese Animation Research. The Annual Conference has grown into a national platform for exchange of professional education, academic research and creative practice. He hoped that, in the light of the brilliant speeches of experts, this annual conference would explore new ideas for a new era, new theories for new liberal arts and new techniques for new animation for the current creation and research of animation.

Zhou Xing, Director of the Ministry of Education's Steering Committee for the Teaching of Drama and Film Studies in Higher Education Institutions and Distinguished Dean of the School of Film and Animation of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, pointed out that Chinese academic animation has entered a new stage of development, with new opportunities for animation creation and a new leap in production. After the reform and opening up, Chinese animation went through a period of "silence transition". In 2015, after the release of Monkey King: Hero Is Back, the glory and future of Chinese animation once again "returned". In retrospect, Chinese images were spread overseas due to the nature of Chinese culture of Chinese School of Animation, the unique artistic exploration of Chinese animators, and the multifaceted creation of Chinese paper-cutting, ink painting and other artistic heritage. He called on animation professionals to constantly strive for perfection, to further explore the long-standing Chinese culture so as to create unique Chinese animation art.

Huangfu Yichuan, the director and chief editor of Contemporary Cinema magazine, said, that the scale, level and influence of the Annual Conference of Chinese Animation Research have been expanding and improving since 2016. The theme of each annual conference reflected the cutting-edge, hot and leading academic research in Chinese animation at that time, which is substantially in line with the characteristics and academic pursuit of Contemporary Cinema magazine. He hoped that, through this annual conference, all experts and scholars in the animation field would adhere to the Chinese national culture and spirit, innovate art media, propose animation theories with Chinese characteristics and create excellent animation works with contemporary characteristics.

Wang Xiaojun, a member of the Party Committee Standing Committee, Vice President of Chengdu University and Executive Dean of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to everyone for the continuing care and assistance given to the development of Chengdu University. Taking the Science of Animated Cartoon Program, a National Characteristic Major and National First-class Undergraduate Major Construction Site and National Five-star Major, as an example, and by illustrating the representative works of Tuan Yuan directed by Professor Sun Zhe, and the animation film Monkey King: Hero Is Back, Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, in which the graduated students of the Science of Animated Cartoon Program major participated as the main creators, and based on the five local standards of Sichuan Technical Specification on Animation Game Effect Design prepared under the auspices of the School of Film and Animation and officially approved by the Administration for Quality and Technical Supervision of Sichuan Province, he introduced the important role played by the teachers in relation to and students majoring in Science of Animated Cartoon Program of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts in national external publicity, professional talent training, industry leadership and demonstration and local cultural services. He expected that all the experts would fully express their penetrating and competing views on the frontier and hot issues of Chinese animation!

Huang Hong, a renowned performance artist, Honorary Dean of the School of Film and Animation of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, explained his understanding of animation art by referring to the acrobatic drama Call 4921, which he wrote and directed. He believes that while drama is a feature film, acrobatic drama is more like an animated film, where the Chinese character "Ji"of Zaji is equivalent to the "Hua" of Donghua, and the essence of which is the pursuit of Xieyi (vivid expression and bold outline), "physical image" with connotation and spirit, the greater the exaggeration, the greater the art expression. Artistic creation must be empathetic with the audience, leaving them with the distance and space to understand the story, emotion, fun and wisdom of animation art.

The theme of this year's conference is "New Era • New Liberal Arts • New Animation - Innovative Research on Chinese Animation Art and Cultivation of Animation Talents" and there are five academic units for discussion: "The National Spirit and the Spirit of the Times of Chinese Animation", "The New Media, New Culture and New Knowledge System of Animation", "The Aesthetics of the Animation Film Industry and the Economic Industry Model", "The Animation Academic Framework and Theory Generation in the New Liberal Arts Perspective" and "Study on the Creation of Animation for Traditional Culture and Regional Cultural".

Since 2016, the “Annual Conference of Chinese Animation Research” has been highly recognized by leaders, industry experts and scholars, and has developed into a well-known academic brand in the Chinese animation industry. This year's conference has the Ministry of Education's Steering Committee for the Teaching of Animation and Digital Media in Higher Education Institutions, the Chinese Animation Research and ASIFA CHINA as academic supporters, and the Communication University of China, the Sichuan Federation of Social Science Associations, the Education Department of Sichuan Province and the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Radio and Television as guiding units, and the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts and the Contemporary Cinema magazine as sponsors, and the School of Film and Animation of the College of Chinese & ASEAN Arts, Sichuan Animation Research Center and Sichuan 2011 Animation and Game Collaborative Innovation Center as organizers, and the Animation and Digital Media Arts Committee of Chinese Collegial Association for Visual Art, the Animation Special Committee of Sichuan Netcasting Association and the College Special Committee of Sichuan Netcasting Association as co-organizers, with over 200 scholars and industry experts from more than 60 universities across China attending the conference and nearly an audience of 4,000 watching the live broadcast.