Chinese social media giant boosts investment in micro-drama industry

Changsha (ANTARA) - Douyin Group, the operator of the popular Chinese social media platform Douyin, which is under ByteDance, plans to increase investment in the production of live-action micro-dramas.

The statement was made by an executive of the group at an industry conference on micro-dramas held in Changsha, Hunan Province, China.

Hua Yuesheng, Head of the Content Partnership Department at Douyin Group’s short drama copyright centre, said on Monday (11/5) that the group would allocate funds worth more than 1.5 billion yuan (1 yuan = Rp2,577) to support the production of live-action micro-dramas this year, with an average increase of 60 percent for each project.

Driven by an increasingly mature ecosystem and continuously developing AI models, China’s micro-drama industry has entered a phase of rapid growth with sustained popularity.

Douyin data shows that the average daily viewing time for live-action micro-dramas has increased nearly fourfold in a year, with more than 1,100 live-action micro-dramas each recording over 1 billion views. The number of micro-drama genres has also risen from 44 last year to 65.

“Against this backdrop, Douyin has launched several support projects for live-action micro-dramas to encourage broader participation and innovation in the industry,” said Le Li, editor-in-chief of the Douyin Group-backed micro-drama platform Hongguo.