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Ben Jiang

TikTok parent ByteDance has scored another hit in China with Hongguo, an artificial intelligence-powered short-drama platform.
Launched in 2023, Hongguo quickly became a household name by riding China’s short-drama boom.
A surge in AI-generated content propelled it past some of the country’s biggest professional streaming platforms, while iterations of AI-animated dramas – using AI video models including ByteDance’s Seedance – gave it further lift.
Hongguo has overtaken the country’s four largest long-form video streaming apps including iQiyi – often dubbed China’s Netflix – in daily viewers as its free shows and expanding supply of AI-generated content transform competition in the online entertainment sector.
Hongguo’s daily active users (DAU) reached 168 million in July, more than double from a year earlier, according to mobile analytics service QuestMobile’s data cited in a research note by Japanese securities firm Nomura in August.
That exceeded the aggregated DAUs of Tencent Video, iQiyi, Alibaba Group Holding’s Youku and Mango TV apps – four of the largest long-form streaming platforms in China – according to Nomura.
Whether a story runs for two hours or two minutes is a question of form, not pedigree
Jia Zhangke, film director
Hongguo’s rapid growth underscores ByteDance’s tightening grip on Chinese consumers’ attention, while traditional streaming platforms struggle with declining viewership.
Total monthly time spent on Hongguo jumped 157 per cent year on year in July at the expense of its four long-form rivals that recorded various declines on the mobile front.
Monthly time spent on iQiyi fell 27 per cent, while Youku posted the steepest drop at 47 per cent. Tencent Video and Mango TV recorded declines of 31 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Hongguo lets users watch complete short drama series for free, generating revenue from advertising and sharing part of the proceeds with creators.
Its rise comes despite long-standing criticism of short dramas for formulaic plots, uneven production quality and an emphasis on instant gratification.
But as the format draws larger audiences, it is also seemingly gaining recognition from established filmmakers as an alternative form of storytelling.
Chinese director Jia Zhangke, whose films have won prizes at international festivals, said in a recent social media post that whether a story ran for two hours or two minutes was “a question of form, not pedigree”.
Jia added: “If two minutes move people, then they have done their job. If two hours fail to, they cannot apply for extra time.”


Eight of the 10 titles on Hongguo’s popularity chart on Monday were AI-generated dramas or animated series, according to a check done by the SCMP.
A separate Hongguo app focused on AI-animated series reached 16 million DAUs in July, up 37 per cent from June, Nomura said.
Five ByteDance services ranked among China’s 20 most-used apps by monthly time spent in July: Douyin, Douyin Lite, Hongguo, news aggregator Toutiao and online reading platform Fanqie Free Novels.
Together, they accounted for 35 per cent of the time users spent on the top 20 apps in July, according to Nomura, highlighting ByteDance’s commanding position in China’s mobile sector.
Douyin also surpassed Weixin in monthly time spent for the first time, according to the report.


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Acknowledging format’s popularity, award-winning director Jia Zhangke defends short dramas as valid art that can move audiences


Acknowledging format’s popularity, award-winning director Jia Zhangke defends short dramas as valid art that can move audiences.


ByteDance’s AI-enhanced short-drama app eclipses China’s Netflix rivals combined

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Acknowledging format’s popularity, award-winning director Jia Zhangke defends short dramas as valid art that can move audiences

Acknowledging format’s popularity, award-winning director Jia Zhangke defends short dramas as valid art that can move audiences