Attendees enter New York's Comic-Con convention, Oct. 9, 2014. (Photo : REUTERS)
U.S. pop culture events producers ReedPOP and Wizard World will hold their first events in China in the first half of the year.
ReedPOP will hold the Shanghai Comic Convention on May 16 and 17 at the Shanghai Convention & Exhibition Center of International Sourcing.
"China is a massive frontier for ReedPOP, a huge market and boundless community of fans that we are eager and enthusiastic to build events for," said ReedPOP's Lance Fensterman. "Geekdom is a universal language and we're sure that the Chinese people will celebrate fan culture in their own unique and amazing ways."
Fensterman added that the event will be a huge opportunity for the millions of Chinese fans who haven't experienced a comic convention held by the Norwalk, Connecticut-based ReedPOP, the world's largest producer of pop culture events.
The Shanghai Comic Convention will bring together comics, toys, video games, collectibles, cinema and television to fans. Participants will also have the chance to meet creators, stars and actors.
Since its inaugural event, the New York Comic Con in 2006, ReedPOP has gained the support of major creators and had partnerships with leading entertainment brands such as Lucasfilm, UFC, Twitch and Penny Arcad.
ReedPOP has held events in India, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Paris and London.
Meanwhile, New York-based Wizard World and FansTang of the China Branding Group Limited announced a partnership to produce a comic convention in a Chinese venue yet to be announced by the end of May.
The event name and additional partners have yet to be determined as well.
It will be the first venture outside of North America for Wizard World, which has scheduled 25 comic con events in North America for 2015.
China already has a number of comics-related events, including Anu-Com in Hong Kong and some huge shows in Taiwan, such as the Taipei Comic Exhibition, which draws more than half a million people.
