With rich career options for Chinese women today, “she-power” has become a formidable force throughout the economy. This week, in the second episode of our special series on female start-up entrepreneurs, we will look at China’s comics industry, and find out how female entrepreneurs are bringing special colors to the drawing board.

Wang Ling is the backstage planner of Ali the Little Fox, a popular cartoon character in China. Witnessing the exponential growth of online comics in China, she established ManMan comic, an online and mobile animation and comic platform, in 2014.

“Traditional paper media offer limited space, making it impossible for many artists with good ideas to publish their comic series. The emergence of online comic platforms and digital comics, however, significantly unleashed the creativity and productivity of cartoonists. More and more quality works are being published on online platforms, gaining greater attention and influence and creating more commercial value than they ever could on paper media," said Wang Ling.

Another female entrepreneur in the comics industry, Liu Huimin, is a comics fan herself. Having worked in a range of online sectors, including online literature, E-commerce, and online dating, Liu Huimin co-founded Comics Island, a comics platform that started operating in late 2013.

With the flourishing of comics in China, some industry players are looking to go global. ManMan Comic and Comics Island are introducing Chinese creations to foreign readers, while bringing overseas comics to the domestic market.

“We will explore the global market from three perspectives: content, distribution and experience. We will work with global partners to import and export content products and jointly develop IPs. In terms of distribution, we will expand cooperation in Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States,” said Liu Huimin.