Drawing cartoon movies has become a popular profession in China in recent years, attracting more and more youngsters.

Cao Ji, a 24-year-old woman with a cartoon film firm in Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is one of the country's 30,000 cartoon movie drawers.

"It could take me three days to draw the hundreds of similar pictures required for continuous effect for a three-second cartoon film action such as two people embracing or a mother kissing a baby," Cao said.

"Sometimes the work is boring, but I like it because it offers both artistic enjoyment and high income," she said.

Recently China issued a list of new professions, including drawing cartoons. According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the current number of professional cartoon drawers is far below market requirements.

The new profession requires applicants to have well-developed painting skills and art creation abilities, but not necessarily a high educational background, the ministry said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2006)