China's Micro-Short Dramas Go Global: The US$18b Engine Driving Cultural Exports at ChinaJoy 2026

A screenshot of COL's Reelshort webpage with popular episodes. Micro-short drama is a new growth engine for China's cultural exports. Zhu Shenshen / China Biz Buzz

Micro-short dramas have emerged alongside video games as a major new growth engine for China's cultural exports.

At the recent ChinaJoy 2026, Asia's premier digital entertainment expo, industry leaders gathered to discuss the sector's explosive global expansion and how artificial intelligence is transforming content creation, audience engagement and monetization.

The global market for micro-short dramas reached nearly US$18 billion in 2025, with Chinese companies capturing roughly 90 percent of the overseas market share, experts told a short-drama forum at ChinaJoy. Data from the National Radio and Television Administration further highlights this global surge, with more than 800 Chinese short-drama apps now operating internationally.

"Chinese enterprises are entering a new phase of growth," said Abhay Singhal, co-founder of global agentic advertising platform InMobi. Singhal noted that China has successfully built a robust short-drama ecosystem capable of producing "world-class products" at affordable costs, catering to high-value overseas consumers who spend up to US$200 or more annually on short-drama content.

To support this overseas surge, InMobi – which recently expanded its presence in China – showcased its flagship consumer platform, Glance, along with an AI-optimized framework to help Chinese developers scale globally. Through partnerships with major tech giants like Samsung, Motorola and Google, InMobi's ecosystem spans mobile devices, lock screens and connected TVs, reaching an estimated 2.5 billion devices worldwide.

Nowadays people are spending more time on short dramas. AI is used in the whole process of the industry covering production and global distribution. Imaginechina

The rapid rise of the medium is clearly reflected on corporate balance sheets. Shenzhen-listed COL Group, a major player in online literature and micro-short dramas, reported a 43 percent revenue increase in 2025 to 1.66 billion yuan (US$230 million). For the first time, short-form dramas accounted for more than half of the company's total revenue, becoming its primary growth driver.

AI technology is playing a pivotal role in driving this international expansion by streamlining localization, content creation and user acquisition. Forum panelists noted that AI tools now allow developers to quickly translate content and adapt storylines to regional audience preferences.

For instance, North American viewers tend to favor stories featuring CEOs and strong female leads; Southeast Asian audiences lean toward campus coming-of-age tales; and viewers in Japan and South Korea prefer themes of revenge and underdogs.

AI is also revolutionizing production workflows and improve monetization.

Tech startup AniShort, which completed a new funding round in April, introduced the industry's first platform to integrate canvas editing, project management and review tools into a single interface. By eliminating the need to switch between multiple software programs, creators using the platform can produce up to 100 short videos per 100-minute workday – a milestone CEO Geng Guanxing described as the true "industrialization" of short-drama production.

A booth of InMobi at ChinaJoy. It uses AI to help clients drive an almost 40 percent improvement in return on ad spend in the global market. Ti Gong

From a monetization standpoint, AI-driven ad tech is delivering efficiency gains. InMobi reported that its unified intelligence framework has helped clients more than double their revenue while driving an almost 40 percent improvement in return on ad spend (ROAS). The company is currently expanding its InMobi Accelerate and Alliance initiatives through partnerships with Microsoft Advertising, Baidu and Yandex, helping short-drama publishers access premium ad inventory and global audiences.

ChinaJoy, held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, closed yesterday. The four-day event spans over 140,000 square meters, with exhibition featuring 902 participating companies, including 267 foreign-funded enterprises from 39 countries and regions – such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and South Korea – underscoring the event's growing international footprint.

It attracted almost 440,000 visits, with 63 percent visitors coming out of town. Audience of ChinaJoy generated 709 million yuan in spending on dining, retail, lodging, transportation and other services, according to organizers.