- China’s microdrama industry (episodes of 1–2 minutes) is growing rapidly, with revenue expected to reach 120 billion CNY (approx. $16.8 billion) in 2026, nearly double the country’s traditional box office.
- AI is quickly replacing many stages of film production. According to producers, an AI-generated film can be made at 1/10th the cost of a live-action film and shortens production time from 1–2 months to about 2 weeks.
- A high-quality AI series may cost only about 50,000 CNY (approx. $7,000) because it eliminates the need for actors, sets, or camera crews.
- In the first quarter of 2026, China released approximately 128,000 new microdrama series, of which more than 95% were created entirely by AI. Before the AI wave, the country produced an average of only 3,000 series per month in 2025.
- AI video tools such as ByteDance’s Seedance, Kuaishou’s Kling AI, and iQIYI’s Nadou Pro are driving production automation. The CEO of iQIYI predicts that within 5 years, over 50% of the company’s content will be AI-generated.
- AI also supports international expansion through translation, background alteration, and actor face-swapping. An English series released on TikTok achieved over 100 million views.
- The US is currently the largest market outside China, contributing about 60% of the global revenue for microdrama platforms. Users of the ReelShort app in the US watch an average of 35.7 minutes/day, higher than Netflix’s 24.8 minutes/day.
- The growth of AI is heavily impacting employment. While the microdrama industry created over 2 million jobs in China by late 2025, many actors and production crews report declining opportunities as studios shift to AI.
- However, experts note that AI still has limitations in character expressions, movements, and consistency. While AI may soon compete in certain formats, creative roles and acting still require humans.
- The article also warns of over-saturation and declining quality as production barriers drop. Some experts believe producers who only copy content via AI without localization will soon hit a growth ceiling.
📌 AI is profoundly changing China’s microdrama industry, from production and distribution to content export. Thanks to low costs and high speeds, AI has enabled an explosion in the number of works and expansion into global markets. However, this development also brings intense competitive pressure, affecting the jobs of actors and production crews, while posing challenges to content quality as AI increasingly dominates.
