Chinese content is accelerating its push into global markets on the back of short dramas, artificial intelligence and homegrown platforms. A new content export model has emerged, one that uses AI to cut production time and costs, mass-produces short-form content and supplies it through China's own platforms. While South Korea targets global markets with highly polished works, China is intensifying its offensive by changing the formula for production and distribution itself, analysts said.
The global short drama market grew 2.4-fold in two years, from $5 billion (about 7 trillion won) in 2023 to $12 billion (about 16 trillion won) last year, according to research firm Media Partners Asia on the 16th. It is projected to reach $26 billion by 2030. China's presence stands out. Its short drama market, now growing 200% annually, is expected by some observers to top 100 billion yuan (about 19 trillion won) next year.
China's strategy comes down to using AI to make content production more efficient and distributing it through its own platforms. Chinese companies are rapidly gaining global market share by distributing short dramas and other content on domestic platforms such as iQiyi. If the trend in recent years was to shrink full-length dramas and films into mid-form and short-form works, the shift now is toward using AI to cut production costs and time and pouring the resulting content overseas. More than 95% of the 18,000 short dramas released in China in the first quarter of this year were made with AI, according to CNN.
China's AI short dramas are expanding beyond online platforms into television. Hunan TV recently gave a prime-time slot to "Journey to the West Reloaded," a 30-episode drama produced entirely with AI. The 40-minute-per-episode series used AI across the entire production process, including the script, storyboards, character modeling, scene rendering and visual direction. Production took four months and cost one-tenth of a conventional budget. Some say the project symbolizes a shift in the video industry, given that a full-length drama was made without actors, filming locations or sets and then scheduled on mainstream broadcast television. In China, more than 1,300 titles are uploaded a day on average, and during peak viewing hours a new AI short drama appears every 20 seconds.
The global offensive is also picking up speed. China mass-produces content with AI, then distributes it to Southeast Asia and North America through platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and over-the-top streaming services. Linking production, distribution and payment within a single platform lowers the barriers to exporting content.
Chinese platforms have recently made their presence felt in Korea as well. Monthly active users of the Korean app for iQiyi, often called the Netflix of China, reached 200,000 as of January this year, about 1.5 times the level a year earlier. On NAVER cafes, heavy users who subscribe to as many as seven platforms at once, including iQiyi and WeTV, and spend 60,000 to 70,000 won a month are actively sharing tips on the best combinations of streaming services.
Korea's content industry, which has built a firm global presence with well-made films and dramas, is also responding to what it calls the new normal in content. Showbox, which topped domestic distributors in revenue this year with releases including "The Man Who Lives With the King" and "Gunche," has moved into the short-form drama market through its label Showbite. The company plans to release 20 titles soon, including "Taste of You" and "Reaper: Return of Asura." Directors of films that drew more than 10 million admissions, including Lee Joon-ik and Lee Byung-hun, have also begun making short dramas, and CJ ENM has unveiled the AI hybrid film "The House."
Industry watchers, however, expect AI-driven short-form content to expand its influence as a separate niche rather than replace the existing market. "Short dramas made in China are getting results with sensational romance and over-the-top storylines, but there are still consumers who prefer well-made works," said Kim Hun-sik, a pop culture critic. "The recent global sensation around the film 'Odyssey' is evidence that audiences respond to a painstaking production process and a high level of craftsmanship."
