The 2019's domestic animated blockbuster "Ne Zha" won the top honor at the Golden Monkey King Awards on the opening day of the 16th China International Cartoon and Animation Festival (CICAF) in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, on Tuesday.

China Media Group (CMG) sponsored the ceremony. This year also marks the first time CMG's sponsored the CICAF.

The Golden Monkey King Awards are considered the most influential awards in Chinese cartoon and animation industry. This year, a total of 89 made to the shortlist of animated films, animated short films, animated series and cartoons, out of nearly 1,000 works from 19 countries and regions. The finalists competed in two main categories: General Awards and Promising Awards.

"Ne Zha," featuring Chinese mythological character Ne Zha, took home the gold general award for animated film during the awarding ceremony. Grossing more than five billion yuan (724 million U.S. dollars) nationwide, it was the winner of China's box office last year and the runner-up in China's box office history. It also became the first animated film selected as the Chinese entry for Oscar Best International Feature Film.

China-U.S. adventure "Abominable" and domestic space travel fantasy "Seer Movie 7: Crazy Intelligence" won the silver and bronze awards for animated film, respectively.

The top three general awards for animated short film went to an art school work "Life and Growth in Nature," a domestic company work "Harvest," and foreign work "BOBO" from Vagerb film.

Two foreign films from the Supinfocom School, "Trois Francs Six Sous" and "MINE DE PLOMB," won the best promising awards for animated short films. The overseas winners, who were unable to attend the ceremony, will be notified for their awards through email.

The 2020 CICAF opened with a reduced size due to the coronavirus epidemic, and was postponed from spring to autumn, for the first time since its inauguration in 2005.

The festival is scheduled to hold a wide range of events, including an expo, a cosplay show and a dubbing competition. It will last for six days to October 4.

Reporter: Deng Junfang

Photographer: Shen Langlang

Video editor: Zhang Chunnan

Project manager: Deng Junfang

Producer: Si Nan

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei