The Walt Disney Co., which is building a theme park in China, said Tuesday it had joined an initiative to develop Chinese animation productions.

The U.S. entertainment giant and the state-backed China Animation Group have launched a project to develop animation content for the Chinese and other markets, Disney said in a statement.

Chinese Internet giant Tencent would help market the productions, to be developed for television, film and digital platforms, it said.

China Animation Group operates under the government's Ministry of Culture.

Disney will provide expertise for story writing, screening and market research to create content to an international standard, the statement said.

China has been seeking to build up its domestic animation industry with mixed results.

While local productions have found an audience, movies such as the successful “Kung Fu Panda” series produced by U.S. film giant DreamWorks Animation have sparked soul-searching over why China is not more competitive.

DreamWorks Animation itself announced a Chinese joint venture to make films for the domestic market in February, when China's Vice President Xi Jinping traveled to Los Angeles while on an official visit to the United States.

Disney broke ground on a long-awaited theme park in China's commercial hub of Shanghai in April, 2011, which will be its third park in Asia after Tokyo and Hong Kong.

The first-phase of the $3.7 billion Shanghai park is scheduled to open in 2015, the official Shanghai Daily newspaper said.

沪江英语快讯：动画电影《功夫熊猫》在全球热映，这部取材于中国文化的电影却不是中国人所拍，这一点让很多人感叹昔日辉煌的中国动画业如今的“江郎才尽”。4月10日，华特迪士尼（上海）有限公司与中国文化部下属的中国动漫集团、腾讯控股有限公司共同举办了“动漫创意研发合作”签约仪式。动画产业巨头迪士尼承诺，将向中国提供其在剧本写作、市场研究等方面的专业知识，帮助中国发展本土动画产业。 和迪士尼携手之后的中国动画能否东山再起、再创辉煌？我们拭目以待！