(Yicai) Aug. 5 -- The 22nd China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, better known as ChinaJoy, has attracted a record number of visitors, showing the exponential growth of the Chinese animation and gaming industries.

A total of 410,300 visitors attended ChinaJoy this year, up 12 percent from last year, according to data released yesterday by the organizers. Among them, about 14,700 were foreign visitors.

ChinaJoy 2025 was held in Shanghai from Aug. 1 to yesterday. With an exhibition area of 13,500 square meters, it had 799 exhibitors, including 238 overseas companies from 37 countries and regions, such as Canada, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

Not only ChinaJoy, but also other recent animation and gaming exhibitions in China attracted large crowds, showing how consumption in these industries has significantly grown, a gaming industry investor told Yicai.

As Chinese game developers go global, more and more foreign exhibitors and executives have come to ChinaJoy to expand their businesses and maintain relationships with their local clients.

Many of the top 50 highest-grossing games in the United States are from China, Moritz Holländer, founder of Almedia, told Yicai.

Almedia is a German advertising company that focuses on reward marketing and has a user base of over 50 million. It is regarded as one of the fastest-growing advertising companies in Europe.

Almedia found Chinese game developers’ performance astonishing when it began working with them on ads, Holländer noted. The firm started cooperating with Chinese partners two years ago and then gradually expanded its business across Asia Pacific, he added.

Advertising firms are following game developers, expanding their business to regions where games earn money, Holländer explained.

Many of Adjust’s main customers are Chinese gaming companies, and most of its business growth comes from the Chinese market, Andrey Kazakov, chief executive officer of the mobile measurement and marketing firm, told Yicai.

Therefore, whether Adjust can get a firm foothold in the Chinese market largely depends on the reception of Chinese consumers, he noted.

China has become the source of global innovation and will always be an important force driving growth as long as new companies continue to develop, Kazakov said, adding that he hopes Adjust can witness and even get deeply involved in this process.

Kazakov, who had visited China several times before for business talks and industry research, attended ChinaJoy for the first time this year to acquire the contacts of potential customers. While in China this time, he also paid visits to several gaming companies.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione