"Earns $53,000 Appearance Fee in One Month"... The Protagonist Driving China's Rapidly Growing Short-Form Drama Market

Over 90% of Dramas Now Created by AI as Production and Distribution Surge

Chinese Authorities Remove 68,000 Violating Works

It has been reported that the production of short-form dramas utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology has surged in China.

Wang Joohyun created with AI. Screenshot from the game "Cheonha" advertisement video "Cheonyeong"

According to Chinese media outlets such as Guangming Daily on September 17, the State Council Information Office of China announced at a press conference related to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) that the number of short-form drama users in China has exceeded 800 million and that the market size last year surpassed 100 billion yuan (approximately KRW 2.0648 trillion).

From January to August this year, 430,000 short-form dramas were released, which is 13 times the total released last year. Of these, AI dramas accounted for more than 90%.

AI Actor 'Pang Taoz'. Baidu China

With the widespread adoption of AI-based short-form drama production technology in China, the number of works is rapidly increasing. Changes are also taking place in video production sites, such as the growing popularity of virtual actors created by AI. In the case of the Chinese AI short-form drama "The Fired Girl," the main character, Pang Taoz, gained 400,000 followers within 30 days of debut; it is known that her appearance fee for videos longer than 60 seconds reaches 258,000 yuan (about KRW 53 million).

There are also more instances where actors are allowing their faces and voices to be used for AI production. Last month, Chinese actress Qi Wei unveiled her own digital double, and Wang Joohyun appeared in a game advertisement that recreated her younger appearance with AI technology.

While AI has helped reduce production costs and enabled a greater variety of directing possibilities, issues remain regarding the need to prevent copyright infringement and ensure the quality of works.

Chinese authorities stated that dramas featuring actual actors are the cornerstone of producing outstanding works and expressed plans to actively support them. The authorities will promote the development and distribution of excellent short-form dramas, guide platforms to establish dedicated sections for works starring real actors, and provide financial support so quality productions can succeed and generate revenue in the market. Furthermore, platforms will be required to label AI dramas, and the authorities will manage the entire process to ensure necessary permissions for the use of likenesses and voices are obtained and followed.

The authorities stressed that AI is merely a tool and the principal agents of creation are humans. They explained that the faster AI dramas develop, the more content management needs to be strengthened.

This year, authorities have focused on cracking down on harmful or vulgar content, content negatively affecting children, and illegal copies or copyright-infringing content, removing 68,000 short-form dramas that violated online regulations. They also highlighted that the primary responsibility for content management lies with platforms, vowing to strengthen platform accountability and improve the industry environment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.