During the Spring Festival of the Year of the Snake, more than 300 high-quality short dramas were officially announced by various platforms, and the number of short dramas that were actually released far exceeded this number. The Spring Festival season has reached a new high, reflecting the new pattern of competition in the short drama industry.

Recently, Feng Shengyong, director of the Network Audiovisual Program Management Department of the State Administration of Radio and Television, accepted an exclusive interview with The Paper, using the five keywords "empowerment, upgrading, feedback, cross-screen, and standardization" to describe the development trajectory of the micro-short drama industry in the past year.

On January 11, Feng Shengyong, Director of the Network Audiovisual Program Management Department of the State Administration of Radio and Television, spoke at the press conference of "Harmony Home 2025 China Network Audiovisual Festival".

Looking ahead to 2025, Feng Shengyong believes that the short drama industry will face three major opportunities as well as three major challenges: content homogeneity and innovation difficulties, pressure from platform content quality supervision, and the balance between commercialization and creative quality.

How will the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television further promote the development of high-quality short dramas? Will there be different regulatory directions for the paid and free models of micro short dramas? How will the Administration further promote the "feedback" of platforms in the future to form a good content ecological cycle? Will the Administration have policy support for the application of AIGC technology, and how will it support the overseas development of micro short dramas... In the interview, Feng Shengyong talked about his achievements, faced problems, and looked forward to the future, and further elaborated on the Administration's policy orientation and future plans for promoting the healthy development of the micro short drama industry.

【dialogue】

The "double" iterative upgrade of the micro-drama industry

The Paper : Under the guidance and support of the Network Audiovisual Department of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, The Paper is conducting a New Year's concentrated broadcast of outstanding short dramas selected for the 2024 "New Journey of the Chinese Dream" original online audiovisual program selection activity. We have noticed that the number of outstanding short dramas selected in 2024 is more than twice that of the 2023 event. What is the reason for this?

Feng Shengyong : The "Chinese Dream, New Journey" original online audio-visual program collection and exhibition activity has been organized since 2014. Every year, more than 100 excellent programs are selected and announced to the public, and special exhibition areas are set up on key online audio-visual platforms, IPTV, Internet TV and county-level integrated media centers with conditions for exhibition and broadcast. It not only witnesses the development process of the new era, but also witnesses the development process of online audio-visual in the new era becoming a new force in building a socialist cultural power.

Online short dramas are a new form of online audio-visual art in recent years. They have both the genes of film and television dramas and the characteristics of short videos. They are loved by the audience for their fast-paced, high-density, rich content, low-cost, short-cycle, flexible production, and down-to-earth, network-savvy, and life-related communication advantages. They are showing explosive growth. According to estimates by relevant market research institutions, the market size of short dramas will be approximately 37.4 billion yuan in 2023, and will exceed 50 billion yuan in 2024.

In the early stages of development, micro-short dramas grew wildly and the quality of the works varied. In order to promote the healthy and prosperous development of micro-short dramas and improve their quality, in early 2024, we focused on standardized management and creative improvement, and launched a number of creative plans such as "Traveling with Micro-Short Dramas", focusing on the direction of creation and strengthening the leadership of the creative ecology, aiming to create a number of high-quality micro-short dramas with profound ideas, exquisite art, excellent production, leading role and innovative value in more subdivided fields. We have also included the micro-short drama as a type of online audio-visual program in the "New Journey of the Chinese Dream" original online audio-visual program collection and broadcasting activities and other promotion activities.

Through the encouragement and guidance of these initiatives, the quality of micro-short drama creation has been significantly improved. The entire industry insists on putting people at the center, expressing the great era through "little people" and "little stories", discovering creative themes and capturing innovative inspiration from the people's fiery lives, and launching a number of excellent works that are popular with the people, such as "Escape from the British Museum", "A Dream of the Stars", "There is Wind on My Way Home", "A Happy Family", "Aunt's World", and "Return to the Yongle Encyclopedia".

The short drama channel of The Paper showcased the outstanding short dramas selected for the "New Journey of the Chinese Dream" event.

The number of excellent short dramas selected for the "New Journey of the Chinese Dream" activity has increased from 7 in 2023 to 17 in 2024. This change in quantity not only reflects the continued growth of the short drama market and the continued prosperity of creation, but also reflects that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has made good progress in its efforts to standardize the management and improve the creation of short dramas. Short dramas are accelerating the iterative upgrade of "inferior products → products → works → fine products", showing an upward and positive development trend.

The Paper : Could you please use a few keywords to describe the overall development of the short drama industry in 2024? What problems does the industry currently face?

Feng Shengyong : The first keyword is empowerment . In 2024, not only will the market size of micro-short dramas in China grow significantly, but the number of users will also climb to 662 million. Micro-short dramas have been deeply integrated into the digital life of the public and have become an indispensable part of people's daily entertainment consumption. At the beginning of 2024, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued the "Travel with Micro-short Dramas" creation plan, which effectively led the direction of micro-short drama creation and gradually formed a scale effect. Afterwards, we further summed up our experience and successively planned and carried out a number of creation plans such as "Learn the Law with Micro-short Dramas", "See Brands with Micro-short Dramas", and "See Intangible Cultural Heritage in Micro-short Dramas". At the same time, we promoted the "schedule" of micro-short drama broadcasts, and launched the New Year and National Day micro-short drama lists. These measures have promoted micro-short dramas to become a powerful booster for cultural tourism promotion, legal publicity, brand marketing, and intangible cultural heritage dissemination, and have received positive responses from relevant departments and localities.

The second keyword is upgrade . In 2024, the quality of micro-short dramas is being upgraded from "defective products → products → works → fine works", and the creation of micro-short dramas is also being upgraded from "expressing emotions → expressing feelings → expressing feelings". Mainstream production companies and well-known actors and directors have participated in the creation of micro-short dramas. The "national team" represented by People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and China Central Radio and Television, as well as local mainstream media such as Hunan Satellite TV, Dragon TV, and The Paper have all participated, further promoting the standardization and fine development of micro-short dramas. At the same time, with the continuous advancement of technology and the expansion of the market, the creation of micro-short dramas has entered the 2.0 era. There have been all-round upgrades in content innovation, technology application, and production quality. For example, the application of AIGC (artificial intelligence generated content) technology has brought more innovative space to the creation of micro-short dramas and improved the efficiency and quality of creation. In addition, the platform has also promoted the commercialization of micro-short dramas by upgrading the profit-sharing model and innovating profit methods, increasing the space for content creation and the income of creators. It can be said that the trend of fine development of micro-short dramas is gradually emerging.

The third keyword is feedback . In 2024, we will guide major online audio-visual platforms to introduce "re-feeding" measures, and guide the market distribution mechanism from traffic promotion to content creation through cash subsidies, traffic support, commercial services, etc., to change the current phenomenon of inverted profit distribution of mini-programs and short dramas. Judging from the specific "re-feeding" clauses of each platform, there are both advertising and traffic support, as well as fee reductions and cash support. The "re-feeding" is mainly to encourage creation, especially high-quality creation. The purpose is to hope that the creation platform and the creators can achieve "two-way running" with the broadcasting platform, so that the short drama can become a model of high-quality creation, thereby prompting more high-quality works with unique styles to continue to emerge.

The fourth keyword is cross-screen . Since 2024, we have seen that high-quality micro-short dramas have not only been popular on short video platforms, but also entered the big screen of TV. Hunan Satellite TV and Dragon TV launched the micro-short drama "730 Damang Theater" and "Quality Oriental Micro Theater" in the prime time respectively. China Radio and Television launched a free micro-short drama zone on national digital TV, and the Central Radio and Television Station also plans to launch a micro-short drama theater. At present, the micro-short dramas "Your Island Has Arrived", "Don't Disturb My Farming", "Master" and others have performed well on the big screen of TV, among which "Golden Pig and Jade Leaf" ranks first in the same period. This not only improves the industry recognition of micro-short dramas, but also enhances the content innovation and attractiveness of traditional TV platforms, promotes the deep integration of micro-short dramas and traditional media, and promotes the innovative development of the entire audio-visual industry.

The fifth keyword is standardization . The explosive growth of micro-short dramas has also seen some content and market problems such as deviations in the value orientation of micro-short dramas, serious homogeneity, piracy, unreasonable charges, and inverted market distribution. Since 2022, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has taken timely and decisive action to increase the supervision and guidance of micro-short dramas, especially since 2024, and has introduced a series of measures. At the beginning of the year, the "Detailed Rules for the Review of the Content of Online Micro-Short Dramas" were formulated and issued to further refine the review standards. The responsibilities for control were clarified, and the "graded and classified review" and "white list" systems were implemented. The content control and filing responsibilities of the General Administration, provincial bureaus and broadcasting platforms were clarified, and all micro-short dramas were "certified for work".

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has stepped up supervision and guidance on short dramas

At the same time, in response to bad creative tendencies, clear creative requirements are put forward by issuing management reminders and other means. At the same time, a 24-hour feedback mechanism for piracy complaints is established, requiring broadcasting platforms to adopt a 24-hour feedback mechanism for piracy complaints to curb piracy. Through these measures, the current negative content of micro-short dramas has been greatly reduced, and the industry ecology is getting better and better.

At the same time, the short drama industry is also facing the following problems and challenges:

First, since the General Administration implemented the "classification and stratification" review and management policy for micro-short dramas in February 2024, micro-short drama practitioners have responded positively and created a number of popular works. The "key micro-short dramas" with episodes of about 15 minutes and 8 minutes are constantly innovating and producing excellent works. However, for the "other micro-short dramas" with episodes of about 1 minute each, which are self-reviewed by the platform, although the content violations have been greatly reduced, the stubborn problems of sensational and vulgar titles have seriously lowered the overall image of the micro-short drama industry.

Second, despite the acceleration of the production of high-quality short dramas, the quality of short dramas on the market is still uneven. Some works ignore the depth and artistic value of the plot in pursuit of click-through rate and entertainment effect. How to ensure the quality of the works while taking into account the preferences of the audience and the needs of the market has become an urgent problem to be solved in the industry.

Third, how to continuously innovate in subject matter and content to meet the increasingly diverse tastes of the audience is also a major challenge facing the micro-short drama industry. In addition, with the expansion of the micro-short drama market, the issue of copyright protection has become increasingly prominent. Despite the relevant policies, some creators and platforms still face infringement and copyright disputes, and urgently need to strengthen copyright awareness and improve management mechanisms.

The empowerment effect of "micro short drama +" is obvious

The Paper : Since launching the "Travel with Micro Dramas" campaign in 2024, the General Administration has released several "Micro Dramas +" empowerment action plans, which have received widespread attention and praise. What are the results of the implementation of these projects?

Feng Shengyong : Since the beginning of 2024, we have successively launched four creative plans: "Travel with Micro Short Dramas", "Learn Law with Micro Short Dramas", "See Brands in Micro Short Dramas", and "See Intangible Cultural Heritage in Micro Short Dramas". In January 2025, we upgraded and issued the "Notice on the Implementation of the "Micro Short Drama +" Action Plan to Empower Thousands of Industries".

The implementation of the "Travel with Micro Dramas" creative plan has achieved remarkable results. In 2024, a total of 162 excellent works were recommended in five batches, with filming locations involving 31 provincial administrative regions and a broadcast volume of over 6 billion, injecting new momentum into the innovation of the cultural and tourism industry and greatly boosting the consumption power of the cultural and tourism industry. Since the implementation of the plan, we have thoroughly organized and implemented it, guiding various places to combine local cultural and tourism resources to create a series of excellent micro dramas with distinctive cultural and regional characteristics. These micro dramas not only improve the overall quality, but also optimize the supply and demand structure, forming a new trend of "chasing dramas and punching in".

The short play "Reunion" selected by Shanghai is one of the fourth batch of recommended plays in the "Travel with Short Plays" creative plan

Judging from the short dramas that have been broadcast online, the audience has responded enthusiastically to this new way of tourism promotion. Many dramas have received high click-through rates and many positive reviews after they were broadcast online, and have been well received. At the same time, these short dramas have also driven the development of the local tourism industry, injected new momentum into the innovation of the cultural and tourism industry, and greatly boosted the consumption power of the cultural and tourism industry.

According to statistics, the number of tourists received by some scenic spots where the filming locations are located has increased significantly after the micro-short dramas were broadcast. For example, the number of tourists received by the scenic spots where 15 excellent works of "Travel with Micro-short Dramas" in Zhejiang Province were filmed increased by 9.05% year-on-year over a period of time, and the empowerment effect of micro-short dramas is obvious.

In addition, the implementation of the plan has also promoted the increase in the number of short dramas and the continuous improvement of their quality, and a number of excellent short dramas that are both well received and popular have emerged. These short dramas cleverly integrate the characteristic landscapes, folk culture, food customs and other elements of the cultural and tourism destinations through compact and exciting plots, allowing the audience to experience the charm of the local area while enjoying the story.

The "Learn Law with Micro-Short Dramas" creation plan was jointly initiated by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, Xinhua News Agency, China Central Radio and Television and other units. At present, two batches of 24 excellent micro-short dramas have been released, covering themes such as courts, procuratorates, and public security, promoting micro-short dramas to empower legal publicity and popular legal education, encouraging and driving production organizations to participate in creation, launching a batch of fine works, using micro-short dramas to interpret legal knowledge, interpreting the law through cases, and popularizing the law through cases, so that the spirit of the rule of law can be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and help build a rule of law in China. For example, Xiaohongshu planned to launch the "Cloud Court Please Judge a Case" micro-short drama project, selecting real cases as the basis for creating micro-short dramas, and conducting "mock courts" on the site, inviting platform creators and users to participate in micro-short drama plot defense discussions, thereby using the innovative form of "micro-short dramas + law" to guide users to subtly accept the influence of legal knowledge and let the spirit of the rule of law take root in the hearts of the people.

In October 2024, 18 units including CCTV Video and The Paper launched the "See Brands in Micro-Short Dramas" creation plan.

The "See Brands in Micro-Short Plays" creative plan uses the advantages of micro-short play creation and dissemination to fully connect all walks of life and deeply empower brand development, encourage and drive brands, producers, advertisers, etc. to work together to tell the story of China's brand innovation and development, build an important bridge for vivid interaction between brands and consumers, and help spread corporate culture. There is a natural compatibility between brands and stories. The two complement each other and can produce profound resonance.

The integration model of "micro short drama + brand" provides fertile soil for enriching the online audio-visual content ecology and greatly expands the boundaries and possibilities of content creation. Since the implementation of the plan, it has promoted the deep integration of brands and micro short dramas. At present, many leading brands have begun to produce their own "small theaters", perfectly combining products with micro short dramas, and narrowing the distance between brands and consumers. At present, many units including mainstream media, short video platforms, social platforms, content production agencies, industry professional organizations, etc. have successively launched their own brand micro short drama businesses.

Source: "White Paper on the Development of China's Micro-Short Drama Industry (2024)"

In general, since the launch of the plan, it has not only accelerated the development of the micro-drama industry, but also brought new vitality to brand marketing, achieving a win-win situation for brand communication and content innovation. This innovative cooperation model is becoming an important force in promoting the healthy development of the online audio-visual content ecosystem. For example, the New Year micro-drama "I'm Very Happy in Harbin" produced by "Harbin Beer", which we guided and promoted, not only presents Harbin's special food, beautiful scenery and the mark of revitalization and development, but also organically combines local brands with the spirit of the city. After the play was launched on January 22, the number of views quickly exceeded 100 million, achieving a win-win situation for the micro-drama + brand + cultural tourism.

The "See Intangible Cultural Heritage in Micro-Short Plays" creative plan was just launched not long ago, aiming to promote the deep integration of culture and technology, and to integrate the past and the present, to give micro-short play art the characteristics of intangible cultural heritage, enhance its cultural connotation, and let intangible cultural heritage shine with new technologies, new scenes, and new forms, and promote its living inheritance. We will focus on developing and creating a batch of micro-short plays with intangible cultural heritage themes that have local and ethnic characteristics and market potential, help enhance the cultural identity of the Chinese nation, and promote social harmony and sustainable development. In 2025, we will guide the creation of a batch of micro-short plays with intangible cultural heritage themes that have ideological connotations, artistic pursuits, and production quality, and build a new bridge for the benign interaction between micro-short plays and intangible cultural heritage.

This year, we also plan to launch the "Follow Micro-Short Plays to Popularize Science" creation plan, promote the integration of micro-short plays into popular science knowledge and scientific spirit, encourage more scientific and technological workers to support and participate in the creation of popular science micro-short plays, help improve the scientific literacy of the whole people, and empower the country's science popularization capacity building. At present, we are guiding the creation of key micro-short play projects of "Zizhi Tongjian", and are ready to use this as a starting point to launch the "Follow Micro-Short Plays to Learn Classics" creation plan in due course, taking the creation of the key work micro-short play "Zizhi Tongjian" as an opportunity to promote the integration of micro-short plays with traditional cultural resources such as Chinese classic ancient books, famous works, and famous quotes, and create and broadcast a batch of "classic" micro-short plays that are derived from classics and reflect reality, so that classics can be revitalized and create an atmosphere for the whole society to learn from and fall in love with classics.

In addition to the above-mentioned creative plans, we will also plan more special creation plans under the framework of the "Micro Short Drama +" action plan based on the needs of economic and social development and industry needs, fully unleash the huge potential of micro short dramas to empower thousands of industries, and further enrich the subject matter types and content patterns of micro short dramas.

The Paper : In 2024, we see that the short drama industry is showing a clear trend towards high-quality productions. What measures has the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television taken to promote this trend? What plans does it have for the future?

Feng Shengyong : In 2024, the main measures taken by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to promote the trend of high-quality development in the micro-short drama industry include strengthening standardized management and improving creation.

Strengthening standardized management: In response to the problems existing in the micro-short drama industry, such as low quality of works and homogeneous competition, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has promptly introduced a series of measures and policies for supervision. For example, new regulations on the management of micro-short dramas have been implemented, the review of micro-short drama titles has been strengthened, and some micro-short dramas with titles that are sensational, vulgar, etc. have been immediately taken offline. These measures have effectively curbed the breeding of chaos and promoted the development of micro-short dramas towards high-quality products.

Strengthening creation and improvement: In order to guide the micro-short drama industry to move towards high-quality production, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has also launched a number of micro-short drama creation plans, such as "Travel with Micro-short Dramas", "Learn Law with Micro-short Dramas", and "See Brands in Micro-short Dramas". These plans, while empowering related industries such as culture and tourism, promote the quality upgrade of micro-short drama content and expand the dissemination and influence of micro-short dramas.

In the future, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will continue to strengthen the requirements for the high-quality creation of micro-short dramas. Taking the "Notice on the Implementation of the "Micro-short Drama +" Action Plan to Empower Thousands of Industries" issued on January 4 this year as a starting point, it will implement in-depth the six major creation plans of "Travel with Micro-short Dramas", "Learn Law with Micro-short Dramas", "Popularize Science with Micro-short Dramas", "Learn Classics with Micro-short Dramas", "See Brands in Micro-short Dramas", and "See Intangible Cultural Heritage in Micro-short Dramas". It will encourage local governments to launch "Micro-short Drama +" creation plans according to local conditions, and promote the emergence of more high-quality and in-depth micro-short dramas.

The short drama "Return to the Yongle Encyclopedia" tells the story of protecting ancient books.

Regulatory focus under paid and free models

The Paper : In recent years, the business model of short short dramas has undergone a transformation from a paid model to a paid and free model. What long-term impact do you think this change will have on the development of the short short drama industry? Will the two models have different regulatory directions, strengths, and methods?

Feng Shengyong : In recent years, the transformation of the micro-short drama business model, from a paid model to a paid and free model, has had a profound positive impact on the development of the micro-short drama industry:

The first is to expand the audience. The parallel of paid and free models enables micro-short dramas to reach more users. The free model lowers the threshold for viewing and can attract a large number of viewers, thereby bringing greater traffic and advertising revenue to platforms and creators. Data shows that by the end of 2024, the scale of Chinese micro-short drama users has reached 662 million, accounting for 59.7% of the total netizens. This huge user group provides a solid foundation for the continued development of the micro-short drama industry; the paid model can provide a more stable source of income and meet the different needs of different user groups, thereby further promoting the innovation and diversification of micro-short drama content.

Source: China Media Research (CSM) "Seventh Annual Short Video User Value Research Report"

Second, diversified sources of income. With the transformation of the business model, the profit model of the micro-short drama industry has become more diversified, with advertising revenue and paid revenue complementing each other, providing a more stable and diversified income structure for platforms and content creators. This has improved the overall economic benefits of the industry and also stimulated the creation of more high-quality content.

The third is the improvement of creative motivation and content. The paid model can provide relatively stable financial support and promote the production of high-quality content. Producers and platforms continue to explore new profit models and content forms. For example, profits can be achieved through advertising sharing, brand placement, membership services and other methods, while more diversified themes and styles are introduced to meet the needs of different audiences; while the free model relies on advertising and traffic drive, prompting creators to pay more attention to user experience and audience needs. Therefore, the overall creative level of the industry has improved, and the diversity and innovation of content have also been enhanced.

Under the paid model, regulators need to pay attention to the transparency of fees, fairness of content distribution, and user rights of platform companies. Ensure that the quality of paid content matches the audience's payment experience and prevent excessive commercialization or the proliferation of false advertising. In the free model, the platform relies on advertising and traffic to obtain revenue. In this process, regulators should pay attention to the compliance of micro-short drama content to avoid the spread of vulgar and illegal content. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the management of platform content review, prevent the proliferation of low-quality and homogeneous content, and promote the compliance development of the micro-short drama industry. With the continuous improvement and implementation of regulatory policies, the micro-short drama industry has become more standardized in content production, distribution channels, etc. This not only helps to enhance the overall image of the industry, but also lays a solid foundation for the long-term and healthy development of the industry.

No matter how the business model changes, our requirements for content are consistent and unified, that is, the pursuit of high quality and refinement. This persistence and pursuit of content will not only help improve the overall quality of short dramas, but also promote the healthy development of the market and bring more excellent works to the audience.

The Paper : Many places have introduced policies to support the high-quality development of short dramas, such as Shanghai setting up an annual 50 million yuan industry guidance fund, and Hangzhou Yuhang District setting up a 200 million yuan development fund. How does the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television view local support policies? How do you view the relationship between supervision and support?

Feng Shengyong : The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has a positive attitude towards the local policies to support micro-short dramas, believing that these policies will help further stimulate the creative vitality of micro-short dramas and promote their healthy and prosperous development. Therefore, in the process of promoting the development of micro-short dramas, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television not only pays attention to its own guiding and normative role, but also actively encourages and supports local radio, film and television bureaus and production organizations to take the initiative and creativity to jointly promote the prosperity and development of the micro-short drama industry.

As the regulatory department for short dramas, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television believes that supervision and support are complementary and indispensable.

On the one hand, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has implemented strict supervision on the micro-short drama industry. As the rapid development of the micro-short drama industry is accompanied by uneven content quality, vulgarity and borderline issues in some works, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has strengthened the review and management of micro-short drama content by issuing management tips and implementing institutional policies to ensure that it complies with the requirements of mainstream social values. For example, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has successively issued management tips for middle-aged and elderly themes, "dominant" themes, and micro-short drama titles, aiming to hit the pain points of the industry and guide the healthy development of the industry. At the same time, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television also pointed out the problems of micro-short dramas in identity positioning, content grasp, and capital market pursuit, and emphasized that if they are not regulated and restricted, they may lead to adverse consequences.

On the other hand, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television also actively supports the development of the micro-short drama industry. While strengthening supervision, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has implemented the "Micro-short Drama +" action plan to support and encourage the development of micro-short dramas. The leaders of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television also stated at the relevant press conference that more space should be given to micro-short dramas, while also strengthening management, which shows the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's balanced attitude between supervision and support.

In addition, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television also proposed an iterative upgrade path for micro-short dramas, such as achieving the leap from "inferior product → product → work → fine product" in quality, and achieving the transformation from "expressing emotions → expressing feelings → expressing feelings" in creation, aiming to promote the quality improvement of micro-short dramas in all aspects.

Continue to introduce policy measures to promote platform "repayment"

The Paper : You mentioned that we should vigorously promote the platform's "repaying", so that traffic will be tilted towards good content and the platform's main responsibility will be fulfilled. Can you give us a detailed introduction to what new measures the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will take in this regard in the future?

Feng Shengyong : In the future, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will continue to introduce relevant policies and measures to promote the "feedback" of platforms to guide and regulate the development of the industry.

‌First, optimize the traffic allocation mechanism. Encourage platforms to optimize algorithms, reasonably allocate traffic resources, help high-quality content to enhance brand and product awareness, and improve traffic utilization efficiency. Allow good content to gain more exposure opportunities, thus forming a good content ecological cycle.‌

‌Second, support high-quality content and creators‌. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will encourage platforms to continue to increase their support for high-quality content and creators, and encourage creators to create more high-quality works by providing traffic support, financial rewards, professional training, etc. At the same time, it will promote the establishment of a closer cooperative relationship between platforms and creators to jointly create a healthy and prosperous content ecosystem.

We will continue to strengthen the management of micro-short dramas. On the basis of implementing the "graded and classified review" and "white, black and yellow list" systems, we will conduct further in-depth investigations and research, and issue the "Micro-short Drama Management Measures" in the form of departmental regulations in due course.

The Paper : In 2024, new technologies, especially AIGC (AI generated content) technology, will be increasingly used in short dramas and online audio-visual industries. How do you view the impact of this technology on the short drama industry in the future? Will the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television have corresponding policy support?

Feng Shengyong : I think the main impacts are that the widespread use of AIGC technology has greatly improved the efficiency of micro-short drama creation, especially in script creation, content generation and post-production. With the support of intelligent technology, creators can complete the creation and production of content in a shorter time. This technology can promote the micro-short drama industry to better adapt to the rapidly changing market environment, while improving the overall creative efficiency and production capacity of the industry, and further reducing costs. In addition, AIGC technology can help creators break through the limitations of traditional creative thinking and explore more diverse narrative methods and forms of expression. This is crucial for the innovation of micro-short dramas, and can bring more, better, novel and more unexpected audio-visual experiences to the audience to meet the needs of different audience groups. With the support of artificial intelligence, micro-short dramas will be able to further enrich the content ecology and promote the high-quality development of content creation in the industry.

The short drama "Chinese Mythology" launched by CCTV used AI to complete the entire process including art, storyboard, dubbing, and music.

In terms of policy support, AIGC technology has great advantages in improving the efficiency of micro-short drama creation and enriching the diversity of micro-short drama content, but it may also bring the risk of content homogeneity and vulgarity. Policy support for AIGC technology needs to give it sufficient development space under the premise of ensuring safe development, encourage the innovative application of AICG technology in various links such as online audio-visual production, production and broadcasting, and at the same time, it should also promote AICG technology to always stay on the correct development track by establishing and improving management methods. In terms of specific measures, on the one hand, we should focus on strengthening the guidance of copyright issues of AICG-generated content and prevent infringement issues in the AI creation process; on the other hand, AIGC technology relies on a large amount of user data and behavior analysis in the content generation process, which involves data privacy protection and user information security. The next step is to prevent data abuse and leakage in information security.

The Paper : In 2024, the internationalization of short dramas has accelerated, and many short drama apps have entered overseas markets. What do you think of the prospects of short dramas in the international market? How will the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television support the overseas development of short dramas?

Feng Shengyong : As global audiences, especially young people, increasingly prefer short, flat and fast entertainment content, micro-short dramas, with their concise and fast-paced characteristics, are very consistent with this trend. Micro-short dramas can quickly attract the audience's attention and adapt to fragmented viewing habits. They have great development potential, especially in markets such as Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia. In particular, the creation of micro-short dramas often revolves around universal emotions, social topics, and lifestyles, and can break through the limitations of language and culture. Through simple and intuitive storytelling, micro-short dramas can quickly break cultural barriers and attract the interest of global audiences.

Some market research institutions predict that the overseas market size of micro-short dramas is expected to reach 36 billion US dollars in the future. Chinese micro-short drama companies have also formed a leading advantage in overseas markets by relying on the advanced experience accumulated in China. Market analysis pointed out that from January to August 2024, DramaBox, ShortTV and ReelShort, the leading overseas micro-short drama apps from China, led the application market in terms of downloads, with a total of 162 million downloads, of which the United States, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia are the main markets. According to statistics, Chinese micro-short drama applications account for 90% of the market share in Japan. Some market research institutions pointed out that Chinese micro-short dramas are expected to become cultural products with a large international market after American Hollywood movies, Japanese comics, Korean K-pop and British mini-series.

The download volume of short drama apps overseas is almost entirely led by China, making it the absolute king.

To guide the overseas development of micro-short dramas, on the one hand, it is necessary to further encourage domestic enterprises to strengthen cooperation with overseas audio-visual platforms, film and television production organizations, cultural institutions, etc. through market-oriented means, enhance their own international influence, and enhance the global recognition of Chinese micro-short drama corporate brands. On the other hand, micro-short drama creators are also required to expand their creative horizons globally and create according to the needs of overseas audiences and market characteristics. In 2024, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has initiated the International Micro-Short Drama Competition. In the next step, it will continue to support international micro-short drama creation exchanges through international forums, exhibitions, competitions, etc., and guide creators to produce more international and high-quality micro-short drama content.

Three major opportunities and three major challenges in 2025

The Paper : Looking ahead to 2025, what new opportunities and challenges will the micro-drama industry face? How will the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television further promote the healthy development of micro-dramas?

Feng Shengyong : I think the new opportunities that the short drama industry will face in 2025 are globalization and further expansion of the international market. With the acceleration of globalization, especially driven by short video platforms, the international market prospects for short dramas are broader. Especially in Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States, short dramas have further achieved global dissemination with the help of digital platforms and AI technology.

Second, technological innovation drives the improvement of creation and production. New generation technologies, such as AIGC (artificial intelligence generated content), 5G, and virtual reality, will bring more innovation space and creative tools to the creation of short plays. In 2025, the application of AIGC technology will inevitably become more mature, which will promote the automation and intelligence of script creation, plot generation, and production processes, and reduce costs and increase efficiency.

The third is the diversification and segmentation of market demand. As audience demand continues to change, the short drama industry will see a diversification of content formats, subject matter types, and viewing habits. In particular, the precise recommendation algorithms and targeted push functions of short video platforms will be able to more accurately meet the needs of different audience groups, driving the rapid development of personalized and customized content.

I think the challenges that the micro-drama industry will face in 2025 are content homogeneity and innovation. With the rapid development of the industry, content homogeneity will become more prominent. Many micro-dramas will face problems such as lack of creativity and repeated themes, which will lead to a decline in the audience's viewing experience. Therefore, how to maintain the innovation and uniqueness of creation and avoid falling into the trap of templated and routine creation is a major challenge facing the industry.

The second is the pressure of platform content quality supervision. Although the micro-short drama market has developed rapidly, the content quality is uneven, especially the dissemination of illegal and irregular content in "other micro-short dramas" self-examined by the platform still occurs from time to time. In 2025, strengthening the content review and quality management of the platform, ensuring the healthy and positive content of the platform, and preventing the proliferation of low-quality and vulgar content are a major difficulty faced by the regulatory authorities.

The third is the balance between commercialization and creative quality. The commercialization process of short dramas has accelerated, but excessive pursuit of traffic and short-term benefits may lead to the shallowness of content creation. How to find a balance between market pressure and creative quality and avoid content being hijacked by traffic is a problem that needs to be solved to promote the sustainable development of the industry.

Regarding how to promote the healthy development of micro-short dramas, on the one hand, we should strengthen the guidance of content creation and innovation incentives. We should continue to increase the guidance and support for the creation of micro-short dramas, encourage creators to innovate content, and promote the development of micro-short dramas in the direction of diversification and quality. By setting up special funds, creative rewards, and supporting innovative projects, we will encourage creators to explore in-depth themes and innovative forms of expression. On the other hand, we will improve the platform supervision mechanism to ensure the quality of content. We will further improve the content review mechanism of the micro-short drama platform, strengthen the platform's responsibility, and ensure that all uploaded works are in line with the core socialist values and social order and good customs. At the same time, we will strengthen the supervision of vulgar, obscene, and illegal content, severely crack down on copyright infringements, and provide creators with a safer creative environment.