With China's animation industry booming, a recent cartoon festival in Hangzhou drew renowned British artists to the country, where they sought partners and offered advice in the fledgling market.

Animated movies earned 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) at China's box office last year, which was around 15 percent of the national total. Animated movies from overseas scooped 4.6 billion yuan of that total.

The numbers were released in a report at the China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, which ran from Wednesday to Monday.

"Being honest and open with your international clients is the key," Sean Feeney, senior vice-president of animation at Prime Focus World London, said at a crowded forum during the festival.

Feeney stressed the importance of planning and urged Chinese animators not to rush into projects.

"It's not making mistakes that is the failure, it's managing the mistakes," explained Feeney.

Alice Webb, director of the BBC's children's programming, talked at a festival forum about the media's role in shaping positive childhoods, and urged players not to narrow their ambitions for children's media.

"Children are sophisticated and varied, and what we offer them must be exactly the same," said Webb, referencing the BBC's Go Jetters as a model example of a show that is both educational and entertaining.

"When you get it right, imaginations are engaged and education is soaked up, almost as if an afterthought."