AI is transforming China’s short drama industry, cutting production costs and expanding access while raising concerns over content quality and regulation.
A team of six core creators and more than 30 other members took just 20 days to produce the first season of Entering the Song Dynasty with Weapons (持械入宋), an AI-generated Chinese short drama. The series has since expanded to 10 seasons, with around 1,000 episodes.
The production process offers a glimpse into how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing China’s short drama industry. According to its production team, the series had attracted more than 12 billion views across online platforms by November 7th.
The story follows a five-member modern military unit that travels back in time to the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127). Equipped with modern weapons and knowledge, the team trains soldiers and fights enemies in the past.
The series has attracted attention for its unusual premise and detailed historical settings. Its production team has also checked period costumes and scenes against historical references. Some viewers have even compiled their own historical explanations while watching the drama.
AI Lowers Production Costs
The success of Entering the Song Dynasty with Weapons comes amid rapid growth in China’s short drama market.
Hongguo, a short drama platform developed by ByteDance, has become a major player in the sector. According to QuestMobile, a third-party data analytics firm, Hongguo had 430 million monthly active users in September 2026, surpassing Doubao, ByteDance’s AI chatbot, which had 419 million.
The platform’s free-to-watch model has helped attract viewers. It generates revenue mainly through advertising inserted between episodes. Its integration with Douyin, China’s leading short video platform, has also helped bring content to a large audience.
AI is now adding another dimension to the business. Industry insiders say the technology can reduce the production cost of an individual short drama from around 300,000 yuan (about £33,500) to about 50,000 yuan (about £5,600). Production can also take as little as seven to 15 days.
This lower cost gives smaller teams more room to experiment. It also makes genres such as historical drama, martial arts and science fiction more accessible to creators who may not have the resources for conventional productions.
The team behind Entering the Song Dynasty with Weapons reflects this change. Its members include mothers, ride-hailing drivers, business employees and people from other non-professional backgrounds. They worked together online throughout the production process.
However, AI-generated performances still have limitations. Director He Xiushan has acknowledged that the characters’ lip movements and facial expressions are not always convincing. He believes the audience’s ability to connect with the story remains important.
More Content, More Quality Concerns
The rapid expansion of production has also raised questions about content quality.
According to industry estimates, China released around 128,000 micro-dramas in the first quarter of 2026. AI-generated productions accounted for more than 95 per cent of the total, although only a small number became hits.
Many productions continue to rely on familiar plots involving wealthy families, romantic rivalries, revenge and sudden changes in fortune. As production becomes faster and cheaper, similar storylines can appear in large numbers.
Some viewers have also raised concerns about excessive screen time and repetitive content. Features such as automatic playback and personalised recommendations make it easier to keep watching. Rewards for daily viewing can add another incentive.
Hongguo has begun to address some of these concerns. In a recent announcement, the platform said it would step up efforts to remove low-quality and repetitive short dramas. It identified excessive emotional manipulation and the repeated use of similar plots, characters and storytelling techniques as key areas of concern.
By October 27th, the platform had taken action against 20,426 micro-dramas over quality and originality issues, according to the announcement.
The platform has also introduced viewing and sleep reminders. In addition, it announced plans to phase out its virtual coin reward programme. New users would no longer receive the feature from November 1st, with its removal across the platform scheduled for completion by the end of December.
Regulation and the Search for Better Stories
Regulators have also stepped up their response. On November 6th, China’s National Radio and Television Administration announced a two-month campaign targeting problems in AI-generated short dramas. The campaign will focus on content creation and distribution, including low-quality productions and the use of AI to generate inappropriate material.
The measures come as the market continues to expand. A report released in August by DataEye Research Institute estimated that China’s micro-drama and AI-generated drama and animation markets would reach a combined 121 billion yuan (about £13.5 billion) in 2026. AI-generated dramas and animation alone were expected to account for more than 40 billion yuan (about £4.5 billion).
The figures point to the scale of the emerging market. Yet the industry’s next challenge is not simply to produce more episodes in less time. It is to turn lower production costs and wider access to AI tools into more varied and engaging stories.
For platforms and creators alike, maintaining content quality will be central to the industry’s continued development.
Written by Ronnie Yu, additional reporting by HKCNA.
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