On February 5th, the English version trailer of the mainland Chinese TV drama “The Grand Di Renjie Case” was released, and on the same day, its platform, Youku, announced some major news: Netflix had acquired the broadcasting rights for “The Grand Di Renjie Case.” The drama will be available in over 190 countries and regions worldwide through Netflix and Youku International. This marks Netflix’s first acquisition of a Chinese period suspense drama and follows in the footsteps of “Day and Night,” another suspense drama from Youku, which made its way onto Netflix.
The international collaboration surrounding “The Grand Di Renjie Case” resonates subtly with the origins of the drama. Historically, the script for “The Grand Di Renjie Case” is not a contemporary original but an adaptation of a novel by Dutch sinologist Robert van Gulik from the 1950s. Van Gulik’s novel was based on the “Four Strange Cases of Empress Wu” from the Qing Dynasty, rewritten in the style of Western detective novels.
Comparing the original source with the novel, the former depicted Di Renjie’s governance efforts and simultaneously mocked Empress Dowager Cixi’s “licentious and disorderly governance,” reflecting the pulse of the late Qing Dynasty. Van Gulik’s novel, on the other hand, focused on deduction and mystery-solving, with a taste reminiscent of the Chinese version of “Sherlock Holmes.” Van Gulik was also committed to promoting translations of his novel into Japanese and Chinese, particularly the Chinese version published in Singapore in 1953, which he personally participated in translating, adopting the style of Ming and Qing Dynasty novels and laying the foundation for future Chinese translations.
In general, the broadcast of “The Grand Di Renjie Case” reflects a crossover in both time and space: the script accumulated since the Qing Dynasty, flourished in the 1950s, and culminated in 2024. The story structure originated in China but shifted to the Netherlands, then Singapore, underwent transformation in China, and once again ventured from China to the world. On January 29th, Youku announced the gift of the television broadcasting rights for “The Grand Di Renjie Case” to the Netherlands, and produced a Dutch-language version for local audiences. On February 6th, “The Grand Di Renjie Case” premiered on CCTV Drama Channel and was simultaneously broadcast on Youku and its international version app, the latter providing subtitles in English, Portuguese, Thai, and 10 other languages for viewers to choose from.
From an industry perspective, the internationalization of “The Grand Di Renjie Case” showcases two models of contemporary mainland Chinese TV dramas going global.
The first model is relatively straightforward, which involves mainland Chinese TV dramas being broadcasted outside mainland China through international versions of platforms, exporting rights, etc., appearing on video platforms, OTT platforms, and television stations outside mainland China. For example, “The Grand Di Renjie Case” appearing on Netflix and becoming a key promoted product on Youku International.
The second model is not the direct export of the drama itself but is referred to as “IP going global,” where foreign production companies and platforms purchase scripts of mainland Chinese TV dramas, which are then modified by local screenwriters and produced and broadcasted by local teams, making them more tailored to local audience tastes. While “The Grand Di Renjie Case” did not directly demonstrate this model, its script unexpectedly ventured to the Netherlands in the 1950s and was rewritten into a detective novel familiar to Western audiences even before being filmed in China, making it a “mixed-blood” production before its Chinese production.
The efforts of these two models have driven a wave of contemporary mainland Chinese TV dramas going global, showcasing the overseas layout of entertainment capital and becoming another footnote in China’s rise.
Who is watching mainland Chinese TV dramas? What mainland Chinese TV dramas are they watching?
To understand the spatial effects of these two models, let’s first observe the export pattern of mainland Chinese TV dramas in recent years.
According to the “2023 Chinese Drama Development Report” released by the Development Research Center of the State Administration of Radio and Television of China, the export of mainland Chinese TV dramas has been continuously growing in recent years and has become the focus of China’s program exports. In terms of export value, the total export value of mainland Chinese TV dramas in 2021 was $56.83 million, which increased to $82.74 million in 2022, accounting for 64% of the total export value of Chinese programs, a year-on-year increase of 45.6%. In terms of the number of exports and duration, in 2022, mainland Chinese TV dramas exported a total of 803 productions, 142,000 episodes, totaling 100,000 hours, an increase of 12.25% over 2021 in terms of the number of exports, and accounting for 80% of the total program export duration.
Behind the remarkable growth figures, two questions arise: who is watching mainland Chinese TV dramas? What mainland Chinese TV dramas are they watching?
Firstly, let’s address “who is watching mainland Chinese TV dramas.” According to statistics from the “2023 Chinese Drama Development Report” on 73 film and television institutions in China, Asia remains the focus market for the export of mainland Chinese TV dramas, with East Asia accounting for 86.3% of the overall drama export, with South Korea and Japan being the highest proportions, reaching 45.21% and 39.73% respectively, with the rest being Southeast Asia. Beyond East Asia, Europe and America are, of course, the markets that mainland Chinese TV dramas hope to conquer, but certain regions that were expected to have a tepid response to mainland Chinese TV dramas have also seen good growth in recent years, such as Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, reaching 20.55%, 15.07%, 10.96%, and 10.96% respectively in terms of the proportion of mainland Chinese TV drama exports outside East Asia.
Overall, Asia is clearly the main base for mainland Chinese TV drama audiences, with Japan and Korea being particularly crucial. The rest of the Asia-Africa-Latin America global southern plate is also forming a market, which may be attributed to the active deployment of Chinese entertainment capital and may also be related to the recent changes in the “rise in the East and decline in the West,” meaning that these countries have increased their imports of mainland Chinese TV dramas as they strengthen their interactions with China. Of course, different countries in the same region also have preferences. For example, in Southeast Asia, according to Zhou Peng, head of Youku’s overseas operations, in 2023, Vietnam is basically a must-watch for mainland Chinese TV dramas, Thailand particularly likes fairy and sweet pet dramas from mainland China, while Indonesia and the Philippines prefer Korean and American dramas.
Next is “what mainland Chinese TV dramas are they watching?” In the early days, the majority of exported mainland Chinese TV dramas were based on ancient themes such as martial arts, historical dramas, etc., such as the 1986 version of “Journey to the West” and the 1994 version of “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” The reason behind this is, of course, the costume design, grand scenes, and story themes of ancient dramas, which attracted a certain number of overseas audiences, including history buffs, martial arts fans, and those interested in “mysterious China” and “ancient East.” This could to some extent ensure the drama’s advertising revenue, thus solidifying the screen image of mainland Chinese TV dramas. However, observing the ecology in recent years, the situation has changed.
Firstly, the export market for Chinese television dramas, particularly those set in ancient times, remains robust. For instance, according to the “Ancient Costume Drama Overseas Report” released by Youku in 2023, ancient costume dramas have been a significant commodity for Youku, particularly popular in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the United States, with a significant market share. According to official statistics from Netflix, among the top ten most popular Chinese-language series from 2022 to 2023, five were ancient costume dramas. According to the “2023 Global Ranking of Chinese TV Dramas” released by V-Pulse, ancient costume dramas held six positions among the top 10 globally influential Chinese dramas, while modern romance dramas held four positions.
However, today’s ancient costume dramas are different from earlier ones like “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” As mentioned in “Lu Drama Going Global Part One,” IP adaptation is currently prevalent. Platforms and production companies tend to first look for high-traffic works on platforms like Jinjiang, then adapt them into scripts for filming. This approach has significantly changed the ecology of ancient costume dramas. Traditional serious ancient costume dramas are gradually declining, while idol dramas set in ancient times have begun to flourish. These include genres such as fantasy, palace intrigue, romance, time-travel, suspense, martial arts, and light comedy. They are not only selling well in the Chinese market but have also become rising stars in the overseas market.
Taking New Classics Media as an example, Wang Qiao, Vice President and Head of International Department, stated in a 2023 interview that Southeast Asian regions, especially Singapore and Malaysia, have a high acceptance of Chinese idol dramas. Dramas like “The Heiress” and “Sweet Love Daily Life” have performed exceptionally well in Southeast Asia. Japan, which traditionally preferred Three Kingdoms-themed dramas, has also begun to accept modern-style ancient costume dramas, including hits like “Empresses in the Palace,” “Scarlet Heart,” and “Story of Yanxi Palace.” Almost all popular ancient costume dramas are broadcast in Japan. “The Heiress” has performed impressively overseas. (TV series “The Heiress” still)
In general, the new type of ancient costume dramas from the mainland, with diverse themes and fresh stories, often interpret modern issues in the form of ancient costume dramas, sparking more discussions than traditional serious ancient costume dramas, thus attracting overseas platforms for acquisition. For example, “Empresses in the Palace” debuted on Netflix in 2015, becoming the first mainland drama purchased by Netflix and ushering in a new era of ancient costume dramas going global. In recent years, dramas like “Eternal Love of Dream,” “Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty,” “The Brightest Star in the Sky,” “Sweet Love Daily Life,” “Scent of Snow,” and “When We Were Young,” which will soon air, have all ranked high on viewing charts on Netflix. “The Case Records of Detective Di Renjie,” mentioned earlier, was bought by Netflix for overseas broadcast rights before it even aired. “Joy of Life 2,” slated for release, has also reached a global cooperation agreement with Disney+, and will be simultaneously broadcast on Tencent platforms domestically and overseas.
Meanwhile, modern dramas have also begun to build overseas reputations. For example, “The Longest Day in Chang’an” won the Best Mini-Series award at the 18th Seoul International Drama Awards, “Go Ahead” won the Best Drama award, and “Skate into Love” was nominated for Best Streaming Original Series at the 28th Busan International Film Festival. Of course, export data for these dramas is also impressive.
Taking New Classics Media’s 2023 data as an example, among its exported works, spy-themed dramas like “Waking Up” and “Kite,” urban romance dramas like “Golden Years,” “Evolution of Love,” “My First Half of Life,” “Big Husband, Little Husband,” “Tiger Mom Cat Dad,” and “One Butler, Two Masters,” and fantasy martial arts dramas like “The Journey of Flower,” “Eight Part Sky,” “The Deer and the Cauldron,” “The Heiress,” “Douluo Continent,” “The Wolf,” “Eternal Love of Dream,” “Fight Break Sphere,” and “Sweet Love Daily Life” collectively accounted for various proportions of the total drama production. Urban romance dramas accounted for 50%, ancient historical dramas for 10%, and fantasy martial arts dramas for 20%. Modern legends like “The Plain” and “King of Legend” accounted for 5%. Overall, ancient historical dramas, fantasy martial arts dramas, and modern legends collectively accounted for about 35%, still falling short of the 50% represented by urban romance dramas. “Thirty Only,” starring Tong Yao, Jiang Shuying, and Mao Xiaotong, received good reviews. (Weibo @ TV series Thirty Only)
This phenomenon indicates the rise of Chinese modern dramas. Taking Japan as an example, a market traditionally inclined towards Chinese ancient costume dramas as the birthplace of East Asian modern dramas, has in recent years also developed a market for modern dramas. According to data from Jiuyang Media, modern drama series released in the Japanese market accounted for 43% of the total releases. The range of modern drama themes broadcast in Japan is diverse, including sweet romance dramas like “Heartbeat on the Tip of the Tongue,” “My Love and the Stars,” “Mr. He’s Loyal and Unforgettable Love,” and “If We Could Love Like This,” family emotional dramas like “A Little Happiness,” “Thirty Only,” and “I Truly Love You,” and suspense dramas like “The Hidden Corner.”
Even science fiction dramas, which were once considered weak areas for mainland dramas, have seen a strong contender in recent years with “The Three-Body Problem.” This drama has not only been popular in China but has also been successfully distributed to regions including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Russia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. After its release, the number of views on the YouTube platform exceeded 7 million, and the daily average play volume on Tencent Video’s overseas version WeTV in North America also skyrocketed to the top.
At the same time, realism and mainstream themes, once thought not to resonate well with overseas audiences, have successfully established international reputations with policy support. “Song of Mountains and Seas” in 2021 is a case in point. This drama, which promotes poverty alleviation as a gift for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, was broadcast on YouTube platforms covering Asia, Europe, Oceania, and Africa through Phoenix TV channels. The overseas version includes both Chinese dialogue with English subtitles and English and Arabic dubbing. It received a high score of 8.5 on the international rating website IMDb, and in 2021, The Wall Street Journal commented on the popularity of “Song of Mountains and Seas,” suggesting that this phenomenon marks China’s discovery of the “success code” for mainstream dramas.
Similarly, “In the Name of the People,” also a mainstream realism drama, has been pre-purchased by Disney+ for exclusive overseas distribution even during its filming stage, becoming an extremely rare new case in the overseas expansion of mainland dramas. After all, in the past, regardless of the genre, most mainland dramas would only attract attention and acquisition of rights from overseas markets after production was completed or even after domestic platform broadcasting. This is undoubtedly related to Disney+’s commercial layout but also to the significant improvement in the quality of mainland dramas.
Overall, the export ecology of mainland dramas has now spread from East Asia to North America, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and has diversified from ancient costume dominance to a variety of themes. The TV series “Song of Mountains and Seas” promotional poster. (Weibo @ TV series Song of Mountains and Seas) Two models are in action: Drama promotion and IP going global.
Next, let’s focus on discussing the two models mentioned earlier: drama promotion and IP going global.
First is the promotion of dramas, which is also the main mode of contemporary Mainland Chinese dramas going overseas. According to the “2023 China Drama Development Report,” 63.01% of Chinese film and television production companies choose independent copyright distribution when releasing Mainland Chinese dramas overseas. The reason behind this is certainly related to the rise of streaming platforms such as Netflix and Viki. Another 36.99% of film and television production companies choose global rights representation by domestic companies. The reasons behind this may include lack of understanding of overseas distribution channels and communication effects, as well as a shortage of overseas marketing talents, funds, and teams. Overall, the current way for Mainland Chinese dramas to go overseas is still mainly through independent copyright distribution, with rights representation as a supplement.
In terms of communication methods, the “2023 China Drama Development Report” also reveals that 42.47% of overseas broadcasts of Mainland Chinese dramas are in cooperation with foreign local television stations or media organizations, 28.77% are through international versions of Chinese platforms such as WeTV (Tencent Overseas Edition) and iQIYI (iQIYI Overseas Edition), and another 23.29% are in cooperation with international streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney+. The remaining 36.99% are through other means of overseas communication, such as YouTube. Overall, internet communication has become mainstream.
The diversification of communication methods also highlights a fact: whether it’s film and television companies or platforms, it seems that they adopt a strategy of “walking on multiple legs” in the overseas distribution of Mainland Chinese dramas to maximize the communication effect. For example, Tencent and iQIYI not only cooperate with platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon to export Mainland Chinese dramas but also have clearly drawn on the successful experience of the former, successively launching WeTV and iQIYI. They are also actively expanding their overseas territories in the hope of further grounding themselves. “WeTV Thailand” has announced several upcoming dramas. (IG screenshot)
Taking Southeast Asia as an example, Tencent acquired “iflix,” known as the “Southeast Asian Netflix,” in June 2020, aiming to integrate its 25 million active users with WeTV and directly reach Southeast Asian audiences with Tencent’s audiovisual content. WeTV itself has been cultivating the Thai market since 2019, exporting Mainland Chinese dramas dubbed in Thai. Furthermore, in 2020, it reached a strategic cooperation agreement with BEC World, the operating company of the third television station in Thailand, to provide drama content through their respective internet audiovisual platforms.
In 2019, iQIYI partnered with Astro, the largest television channel service provider in Malaysia, to open an iQIYI channel (Channel 300) on Astro and launch Astro-produced film and television content on the iQIYI App. In 2020, iQIYI announced that its overseas headquarters would be located in Singapore, hoping to further explore the Southeast Asian market.
Additionally, cooperation with Facebook and YouTube is also significant. It can be observed that whether it’s iQIYI, Tencent, or Youku, they have established official accounts on YouTube and synchronized multi-language subtitles and behind-the-scenes clips of dramas to accumulate fans.
Regarding long-term strategies and successful producers of Mainland Chinese dramas with a “multi-legged” approach, Huace Group stands out. Established in 2006, Huace officially established its international department before going public, initiating the overseas project of film and television products. Today, Huace Group has established cooperation relationships with international platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, and Huawei Video. Seventeen of its dramas, including “To the Dearest Intruder,” “In the Name of the Family,” “Find Yourself,” “Love of Aurora,” and “Eternal Love,” have landed on Netflix, ranking first among Chinese film and television companies. Meanwhile, Huace has also created more than 50 “Huace Theaters.” On YouTube alone, Huace has more than 20 channels, with nearly 15 million subscribers, providing over 200 film and television dramas. “To the Dearest Intruder” became popular, boosting the tourism economy in Yunnan Province. (Weibo image)
The extensive overseas distribution of Mainland Chinese dramas has also created demand for subtitle translation and dubbing, with the role of dubbing being particularly crucial. Taking the Thai market as an example, according to data from YAWEI Communication in 2023, since WeTV was launched in Thailand, the viewership of Thai-subtitled and dubbed versions of dramas has increased tenfold. The average viewership of the Thai-dubbed version of “The Night” is comparable to that of the Thai-subtitled version of the popular drama “The Untamed,” indicating the importance of local language dubbing. Similarly, “Love in Between” achieved nearly a hundred million views overseas and sparked a craze in Thailand. In addition to factors such as subtitles in eight languages including English and Thai, Thai dubbing was also crucial.
This kind of “localization” has led to another mode of overseas distribution of Mainland Chinese dramas: IP export. This mode does not refer to the overseas release of dramas but rather to foreign countries purchasing rights for remakes after recognizing high-quality and high-traffic Mainland Chinese dramas.
In the early years, Vietnam can be said to be an active practitioner of this mode. However, it was not strictly limited to drama remakes but also included MVs, short films, and other forms. Popular dramas such as “Journey to the West,” “Princess Pearl,” and “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber” were produced. These can be considered relatively early examples of Mainland Chinese drama IP export.
In recent years, the Qing Dynasty time-travel drama “Scarlet Heart” marked a new beginning for IP export. After South Korea acquired the rights to remake it, “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” was released in 2016. The plot was adapted to a modern Korean woman traveling back to the Goryeo Dynasty and getting involved in brutal palace struggles and a tragic romance with a prince. From the results, “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” not only performed well in South Korea at the time but also won Lee Joon-gi and IU, who played the male and female leads, the “Best Couple Award” at the 2016 SBS Drama Awards, showing its popularity.
Of course, the success of “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” comes from the dedicated efforts of the Korean team in remaking it. However, the emergence and performance of this work also demonstrate that the era of China unilaterally remaking Japanese and Korean dramas has passed. Starting with “Scarlet Heart,” contemporary Mainland Chinese dramas have laid the groundwork for remakes of Japanese and Korean dramas, gaining the “IP export rights” to be remade.
Afterward, in 2020, South Korea released “Queen Cheorin.” This drama was a remake of the 2015 Mainland Chinese drama “Go Princess Go,” which tells the story of a Blue House chef who travels back to the Joseon Dynasty and wakes up in the body of the 25th queen of King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty. This led to a humorous palace life story. Although “Queen Cheorin” sparked historical controversy, it also experienced a phenomenon of “more scolding, more popular.” Its ratings soared, setting the highest premiere ratings among tvN dramas in 2020. The final episode achieved a nationwide rating of 17.371% in South Korea and 18.554% in the Seoul metropolitan area, ranking fifth in tvN’s all-time highest-rated dramas.
In 2022, the Mainland Chinese drama “My Little Happiness” officially granted remake rights to the South Korean streaming platform Watcha, becoming Watcha’s first remake. The South Korean side evidently sees the potential for another “Queen Cheorin” and hopes for similar success. From “Scarlet Heart” to “My Little Happiness,” the model of Mainland Chinese drama “IP export” has firmly established itself in the South Korean market. Even without remakes, it can drive a series of IP business opportunities. For example, after the release of the Korean version of the Mainland Chinese drama “Joy of Life” in 2019, it sparked a “Joy of Life fever” in South Korea. The original novel climbed to the top of NAVER’s “Bestsellers” list, YES24’s “New Topic Book” list, and became the number one search on Aladin Books, a major online bookstore in Korea.
South Korea is not alone in this. In 2021, Japan released “Cinderella is Online!” (a remake of the 2016 drama “Love O2O”) and “Hot Mom” (a remake of the 2013 drama “A Legend of Hot Mom”). Thailand also had remakes such as “A Little Thing Called First Love” in 2021 and “Boss & Me” in 2022, both based on Mainland Chinese dramas of the same name.
Additionally, platforms’ overseas layouts related to the overseas distribution of Mainland Chinese dramas have evolved into a new model in recent years: cooperation between Chinese platforms, production companies, and local teams to remake local IPs or even produce new dramas, broadcasting them locally and in China. This phenomenon is particularly evident in Southeast Asia. For example, Tencent’s WeTV has cooperated with Thai teams to produce many BL dramas, which are not only popular in the Chinese-speaking market but also boost the popularity of many Thai actors. iQIYI has also collaborated with Mediacorp, a Singaporean media company, to remake the classic Singaporean IP “The Little Nyonya” in 2019. It aired on Singaporean television channels, CCTV-8, and iQIYI in 2020. Additionally, it has worked with Singaporean and Malaysian teams to produce the first Southeast Asian self-produced drama “Afterlife Traveler: The Nan Yang Legend” in 2021.
Of course, this model has surpassed the context of “Mainland Chinese drama overseas distribution” and should be considered as part of the broader “streaming media overseas expansion.” Nevertheless, it cannot be separated from the thriving scene of Mainland Chinese drama overseas distribution.
In the early days of Mainland Chinese drama overseas distribution, traditional dramas such as “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” were represented. During a time when China’s relevant industries were relatively weak, they relied on strong traditional IPs such as “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” to enhance the product’s visibility. Now, with the rise of Chinese entertainment capital and streaming media, works like “Joy of Life” are leading the “second wave” of overseas expansion. From Asia to the world, from ancient costumes to contemporary settings, the overseas distribution of Mainland Chinese dramas is thriving.