Incredible! New Hit IP Work Made in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone Selected for a National Project

This summer, digital cultural and creative products from Chengdu Hi-tech Zone have been a huge hit! Following the animated film All Wishes Come True!, which continues to win acclaim and rake in box office, another animated work made in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone — Year Hare Affair: The Long March Special (the “Hare Long March Special” for short) — has been selected for a national-level project!

To continue guiding the creation of premium micro-dramas and give full play to the exemplary and leading role of quality works, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) has collected submissions in three batches under the “Five Batches” initiative of its “Premium Micro-Drama Creation and Communication Plan”. As one of three works initiated by the administration itself, the IP work Hare Long March Special, made in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone, was included in the first batch of proposed support projects. The work was planned and produced jointly by two subsidiaries of local enterprise Siory — Chengdu Edelweiss Animation and Chengdu Xingchen Yuanli Network. It is the only work from Sichuan to be selected and is expected to go online by the end of 2026.

As a representative original animation IP in China, Year Hare Affair (hereinafter “Hare Affair”) has long been dedicated to themes of China's modern and contemporary history, turning revolutionary history, defense science and technology, and patriotic sentiment into stories that young audiences readily accept and easily relate to. It has grown into an influential animation brand that tells China's stories.

Hare Affair employs anthropomorphic creativity, using a rabbit as its central character to present modern and contemporary history through light-hearted, witty storytelling. Beneath its cute, soft art style, the series recounts the arduous struggles of generation after generation of forerunners, often moving audiences to laughter and tears while conveying deep patriotism. To date, the Hare Affair animation has garnered over 3.3 billion views across the internet, making it a highly representative national Chinese animation cherished by young audiences.

How, in the communication context of the new era, can revolutionary history truly draw near to young people and into their hearts?

Hare Affair's answer is to tell revolutionary history in the language of animation and from a young perspective, so that it truly resonates. Animation has the expressive advantage of transcending age, medium and time; it not only recreates historical scenes, but also builds emotional resonance across generations through its characters, emotions and stories.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. By retelling the story of the Long March in animated form, Year Hare Affair: The Long March Special is both a heartfelt tribute to revolutionary history and a new exploration of telling China's story well in innovative ways.

“Hare Affair hopes that audiences will not only remember the historical events one by one, but also understand why faith, the people and unity became the deepest source of strength behind the victory of the Long March.” This is also the shared aspiration of producer Wang Lei and director Lin Chao.

Based in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone and relying on the zone's continuously improving industrial ecosystem, Siory adheres to a full-chain development strategy centered on IP operations. It owns a number of top-tier IPs in the industry, including the Shrouding the Heavens series, the Xuan-Yuan Sword series and Hare Affair, continuously helping traditional culture reach beyond its usual circles and telling the story of Chinese culture to the world.

In recent years, a large number of phenomenal animation and film works devoted to spreading Chinese culture have been born in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone. From Ne Zha 2 by Coco Cartoon — the world's highest-grossing animated film and No. 4 on the all-time global box office chart — to God Troubles Me and One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes by L²Studio, one acclaimed work after another has helped traditional culture break new ground.

Behind this bumper crop of achievements is the sound industrial ecosystem of Chengdu Hi-tech Zone. As the China (Chengdu) Online Audiovisual Industry Base and a national demonstration base for cultural and technological integration, the zone has attracted more than 6,000 digital cultural and creative enterprises and over 120,000 practitioners, with industry output exceeding RMB 140 billion, forming a full-chain industrial cluster covering content creation, technology R&D, distribution and operations, and derivative development.

Wang Lei said that in the future, the company will continue to explore contemporary expressions of fine traditional Chinese culture, launching more quality works that combine depth of thought, artistic excellence and value for the times, so that more young people can approach history and understand the spirit behind it through stories, and strengthen their cultural confidence through cultural resonance. Chengdu Hi-tech Zone will also continue to polish its “Chengxin Chengyi” business environment service brand, providing fertile ground for enterprises to create and grow, and helping them deliver wave after wave of well-received, marketable IP products made in Chengdu Hi-tech Zone.