China’s short-dramas flood the market — and let viewers pick winners
A hand-drawn poster advertising the film “Niu Lai”, which translates to “Here Comes the Cow”, is seen at a cinema in Beijing on August 21, 2026. “Niu Lai”, a low-budget Chinese animated film that was widely mocked for its crude visuals became a viral hit, with people packing cinemas to see just how bad it is. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP via Getty Images)
Pedro Pardo | Afp | Getty Images
Surging artificial-intelligence capabilities and declining attention spans have Chinese producers flooding the zone with short-drama films to see which ones take off.
Vertical-title producers gauge audience interest before committing heavily to distribution and audience acquisition. Compared with traditional entertainment models, which commit much more capital to production, short-drama firms can test demand with less money at risk.
“A platform or producer can test a vertical serial’s opening clips with a defined audience and expand promotion when it converts,” said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of ChoZan. That allows companies to put more money behind titles that drive engagement and quickly pivot away from those that do not — a fail-fast approach.
Generative AI has accelerated this high-volume production strategy by reducing the time and cost required to make new titles. About 128,000 short-dramas were released in China in the first quarter of 2026, over 95% of which were AI, according to estimates published by China’s Netcasting Services Association. CNSA estimated China’s microdrama and manju market at about 100 billion yuan (US$15 billion) in 2025. The format overtook long-form video in average daily use, ranking second among audiovisual categories.
JIAXING, CHINA – JULY 21: Staff members work on script refinement, on-location filming, AI post-production, and overseas translation and distribution at a micro drama production company on July 21, 2026 in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province of China. Jiaxing has gathered dozens of micro drama-related enterprises and established multiple professional industry platforms to support the sector’s growth. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Vertical titles can generate strong advertising revenue, with opt-in video ads earning about 11 times Mintegral’s Android benchmark in the first half of the year, according to the report.
However, heavy distribution and audience-acquisition spending can erode some of the margins created by cheap production.
While making a short drama may cost only a few hundred thousand yuan, “making the right audience see it can cost far more,” Dudarenok said. She estimated that the cost of buying 1,000 promotional ad impressions rose from 50–80 yuan in 2023 to around 150–200 yuan in 2025, sometimes exceeding 300 yuan during competitive periods.
High volume and low production costs do not necessarily translate to commercial success.
While a few stellar hits can generate substantial revenue, most still fail to produce meaningful returns on investment, Dudarenok…
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