Chinese inspired by Ne Zha 2, DeepSeek and tech trailblazers see signs of brighter future

Name: Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country’s highest-grossing film ever
Uploaded: 2025-03-01T02:00:10.000Z
Duration: 1 min 53 s
Description: Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country’s highest-grossing film ever

‘The AI leap was achieved under the chip export sanction of the US … It convinced me that diligent and smart Chinese people can make things happen’

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Audiences attend the North American premiere of Ne Zha 2 in Los Angeles on February 8, 2025. Photo: Xinhua

Jane Caiin Beijing

Published: 10:00am, 1 Mar 2025Updated: 10:52am, 1 Mar 2025

At the beginning of 2025, few were fully optimistic about China’s development prospects in the shadow of the US-China rivalry in trade, tech, security and other aspects.

The world’s second-largest economy remained in the doldrums throughout most of 2024 until Beijing launched an array of stimulus policies in September. In the end, GDP expanded 5 per cent from 2023, meeting the official target of “around 5” per cent, according to official data.

However, a sluggish job market, a protracted property downturn and gloomy wage increase outlook still weighed heavily on consumer sentiment.

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Chinese animation film Nezha 2 becomes country’s highest-grossing film ever

The arrival of green shoots in late January came all of a sudden. The blockbuster film Ne Zha 2, a home-grown animated feature, has been refreshing records in China box office sales since its debut on January 29. Nine days earlier, DeepSeek, a private Chinese company, shocked the world by launching an AI reasoning model that is fully open source and more cost efficient than most of its peers.

The technological excellence exhibited by the movie and the start-up have helped buoy confidence around the nation in what Chinese people can achieve in spite of intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

“I was so moved by the movie. When the ‘monsters’ chained by the ruler in the deep sea angrily smashed their shackles, I resonated with their desperation and admired their fighting spirit,” said David Qiu, a video game designer in Beijing, who said the movie was reminiscent of people struggling in the depressed years of the pandemic and post-Covid economic stagnation.

“We want to live a better life,” he said.

The maker of Ne Zha, Yang Yu, founder of Kekedou Animation, graduated from a prestigious medical school in the western city of Chengdu but decided to become an animator. Going by the name Jiaozi, or “Dumpling”, Yang is self-taught in the art of animation. He struggled to make a living for six years but never gave up, according to media reports.