Prime time: China's micro-dramas are going global

黄金时段:中国微剧走向世界

Drum Tower

2025-03-26

27 分钟
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单集简介 ...

An ancient empress, thrust into the modern world, must win over a CEO and his family. After a one-night stand, two people wake up married, and their wedding goes viral. Micro-dramas deliver non-stop twists in under two minutes and audiences can't stop watching. This booming industry has outpaced China's box office and Chinese production companies are looking to replicate its success abroad. Meanwhile, the Communist Party is trying to regulate these micro-dramas and adopt the format to spread party-approved values. Alice Su, The Economist's senior China correspondent, and Gabriel Crossley, our China correspondent, ask: why is China cracking down on its most addictive entertainment export? Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. 
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单集文稿 ...

  • After a steamy night of passion and posing for selfies,

  • a couple wakes up in bed together.

  • Neither of them has any idea who the other one is.

  • What the hell are you doing here?

  • Have you lost your mind?

  • Their phones ring.

  • Hi, I'm busy right now.

  • And they discover that they seem to be married.

  • So then what?

  • End of episode.

  • All this happens in 1 minute, 35 seconds.

  • That's the first episode of Insta Marriage,

  • a micro-drama from a Chinese-owned platform called Real Short.

  • Microdramas are China's response to a new age when audiences' attention spans are getting shorter and shorter.

  • They're dramas with episodes shorter than an average TV commercial and packed full of twists and turns.

  • And these microdramas have been a huge success.

  • Between 2021 and 2023, their market has grown tenfold.

  • Last year, microdrama revenues outperformed the film industry in China for the first time.

  • Chinese production companies are now looking to replicate that success overseas.

  • But back home,