From clicks to creation: How AI is fueling China's micro-drama boom abroad

BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- From the streets of Southeast Asia in the early morning to evening commutes across Europe and the United States, a growing number of smartphone screens are filled with micro-dramas from China.

These vertically shot, short-form series, often lasting just a few minutes per episode, are spreading across global markets at an accelerating pace.

At the same time, the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) is pushing the industry into a new stage defined by broader participation, higher efficiency and more diverse content, helping drive its global expansion.

A LIGHTWEIGHT EXPANSION MODEL

The popularity of micro-dramas reflects a broader shift in viewing habits worldwide. Many users are already accustomed to scrolling on platforms like TikTok. Micro-dramas offer more continuous storytelling than short videos while requiring far less time than traditional series on platforms such as Netflix.

The global expansion of Chinese micro-dramas has been swift, with overseas revenue reaching 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of 2025, up 194.9 percent year on year, according to a white paper on the development of China's micro-drama industry.

It also showed that global downloads of Chinese micro-drama apps climbed to roughly 730 million during the same period, surging 370.4 percent from a year earlier.

Micro-dramas differ from traditional television exports in both format and business model. While traditional exports often rely on copyright pre-sales and platform purchases, processes that involve long cycles and higher risks, micro-dramas are distributed through apps and monetized directly through user payments.

This model enables faster expansion and replication in overseas markets, said Ouyang Rihui, deputy director of the China Center for Internet Economy Research at Central University of Finance and Economics.

Chinese companies are now exporting not only content but also production and distribution systems. Scripts developed in China are adapted for local audiences, often involving foreign actors and local production teams.

In the early stages, most productions relied on translated versions of Chinese hits. Now, more companies are shifting toward locally produced content overseas, working with local partners in casting and production to better integrate into target markets.

A producer based in Los Angeles, surnamed Zhang, said that although local productions involve higher costs, they place greater emphasis on quality and cultural relevance.

AI-POWERED MASS CREATION

The wider use of AI is accelerating changes across the industry, from script development and translation to editing and recommendation systems, helping reduce costs and shorten production cycles.

"What once seemed like a distant wave is now sweeping across every corner of the film and television industry," said Feng Shengyong, director of the television drama department at China's National Radio and Television Administration.

Ma Hongbin, senior vice president of Kuaishou, noted that AI has lowered technical barriers, enabling broader participation in content creation. The company's AI tools have supported more than 60 million creators worldwide and contributed to the production of over 600 million videos since 2024, he said.

This shift is opening the industry to a wider range of creators. Gong Yu, founder and CEO of iQIYI, said AI makes it easier, especially for younger creators, to produce content and reach audiences, while also expanding the diversity of available content.

Examples of this trend are already emerging. Wen Xiaomeng, founder of a startup in Chengdu, said her 10-person team used AI tools to produce popular animated shorts, with members coming from fields such as chemistry and food safety.

This advantage is also evident in genres such as fantasy, historical and mythological dramas, where AI helps overcome the limits of physical sets and enables visually striking scenes at much lower cost.

Yang Hanhan, an AI content creator from Wuhan, produced a historical short film about the ancient Chinese general Huo Qubing with a team of three. The project took 48 hours and cost about 3,000 yuan (about 437 U.S. dollars) in computing resources, but attracted wide attention at home and abroad. Yang said AI allows creators to focus more on ideas rather than repetitive production tasks.

AI TO FUEL GLOBAL GROWTH

AI is increasingly shaping the global expansion of Chinese micro-dramas, with analysts noting that the next stage of development will be driven less by traffic and more by technology.

Liu Xingliang, a digital economy scholar, said AI is already being applied in translation, localization, content generation and recommendation systems. These tools reduce the cost of operating across languages and cultures while improving the efficiency of large-scale content production and optimization.

He added that AI is also playing a growing role in creative processes, including script development, scene design and editing, reshaping the industry's cost structure and making it easier to tailor content to different markets.

The sector is moving toward a more technology-driven model, with the potential to build a scalable and globally adaptable ecosystem, Liu said.

Industry experts say this shift is helping address challenges such as content repetition by enabling faster iteration and more diverse experimentation, while expanding the range of stories that can be produced and distributed internationally.

Looking ahead, further growth will depend on deeper localization and stronger global collaboration. Ouyang said the industry needs to better align with local values, social contexts and aesthetic preferences, especially in high-value markets such as Europe and the United States.

He also called for closer cooperation with overseas platforms, production companies and creators, as well as more active participation in setting international standards.