Images by Mick Ryan

Grassroots creative communities are hardly China's calling card on the global stage, yet the past few years has seen a forward-thinking team of expatriates and locals develop one of the world's largest online communities of creatives, which they are now harnessing with an innovative model for building a successful business from a social network base.

Launched in April, 2007, Shanghai-based website Neocha.com has cultivated a network of over 30,000 users covering every province in China. Musicians, designers, filmmakers, illustrators, animators and graffiti writers use the site t ......antime, Leow and Schokora's focus remains on growing that community and working with the artists NeochaEDGE represents.

When asked for the high point of NeochaEDGE thus far, Schokora keeps the focus on the community of young independent creative minds that Neocha has built: "The best thing is the response we've gotten from readers and users, those that want to join and contribute. The passion of these people for the local Chinese creative community is what we are all about."