A visitor to an exhibition in Osaka takes in one of the 200 or so works of manga and anime created by Chinese artists. (Ken Hasegawa)

OSAKA--An exhibition of the best in Chinese manga and anime is now showing here to mark the imminent arrival in Japan of Chinese President Xi Jinping for the Group of 20 summit meeting to be held in Osaka from June 28 to 29.

Organized by a Chinese government agency and an association of Chinese artists, the exhibition is believed to be the first major exhibition in Japan bringing together samples of manga drawn using ink wash painting techniques as well as computer graphic-generated anime streamed over the Internet.

Event organizers are hoping the 200 or so items on display will serve to promote cultural exchanges in the anime sectors of the two nations.

About 600 square meters of floor space is devoted for the exhibition.

The oldest items on display are ones created in the 1930s by the late Feng Zikai (1898-1975), who is often referred to as "the father of Chinese manga."

Feng's manga are said to be heavily influenced by the paintings of the Japanese artist Yumeji Takehisa (1884-1934), whose works Feng encountered in his youth.

Items have also been made available by Tencent Holdings Ltd., a Chinese information technology firm that operates a website streaming manga and anime. A company official said the site receives about 120 million visitors a month.

"Much like Japan, the popular anime are the bittersweet love stories favored by teenagers," the official noted.

The exhibition runs until July 3 at Twin 21, a commercial complex in Chuo Ward. Admission is free.