JAKARTA - Chinese micro-dramas are increasingly appearing on the screens of global user's mobile phones. The format is simple, namely a short vertical series, usually only a few minutes per episode, but still has a connected story.
Launching a Xinhua report, Thursday, April 30, micro dramas are now spreading rapidly from Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States. This pattern is in line with the new habits of viewers who are used to scrolling the screen, but still want to follow the story.
The overseas revenue of Chinese micro dramas reached 1.5 billion US dollars in the first eight months of 2021, up 194.9 percent year-on-year. Global downloads of its app also jumped 370.4 percent to around 730 million.
Its business model is lighter than that of ordinary television series exports. Micro dramas are spread through applications and immediately generate money from user payments.
Ouyang Rihui, Deputy Director of the China Center for Internet Economy Research, said the model made expansion into overseas markets faster.
Chinese companies are now not only selling content. They also bring production and distribution systems. Scripts are made in China, then adapted to local audiences. Many productions are starting to use foreign actors and local teams.
The Los Angeles-based producer with the surname Zhang said local production was more expensive, but stronger in terms of quality and cultural closeness.
AI is accelerating this industry. The technology is used to write scripts, translate, edit, and manage content recommendations. Costs are down. Production time is shorter.
"What used to seem like a distant wave is now sweeping every corner of the film and television industry," said Feng Shengyong of China's National Radio and Television Administration, quoted by Xinhua.
Kuaishou said its AI tools have supported more than 60 million creators worldwide and helped produce more than 600 million videos since 2024.
AI also opens the door for small creators. Wen Xiaomeng, founder of a start-up company in Chengdu, said his team of only 10 people was able to create a popular short animation with the help of AI. Its members even come from non-film fields, such as chemistry and food safety.
The technology is also helping fantasy, historical and mythological genres. AI makes difficult and expensive visual scenes producible at a lower cost.
In Wuhan, AI creator Yang Hanhan made a short historical film about general Huo Qubing with only a team of three people. The project was completed in 48 hours and cost about 3,000 yuan or 437 US dollars for computing.
However, global expansion is not enough to rely on technology. Liu Xingliang, a digital economy expert, said AI does help with translation, localization, content production, and recommendations. But each market still has different tastes.
The biggest challenge now is localization. Ouyang said the industry needs to better understand the value, social context, and visual tastes in important markets such as Europe and the United States.
Going forward, the growth of Chinese micro-dramas will depend heavily on the ability to combine technology, local stories, and cooperation with platforms and creators abroad.
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