Officials tell trainees from 17 countries that short video is reshaping broadcasting, with a market forecast to exceed 100bn yuan by 2027
China’s broadcasting regulator has told visiting journalists from developing countries that short-form video and micro-dramas are rewriting the rules of the media business, and that Beijing wants them as partners.
Speaking on Thursday at the opening of two training workshops for Belt and Road countries, Zhou Jihong, director-general of the International Cooperation Department at the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), said 2026 was a “pivotal year” for the industry’s digital and intelligent transformation. Participants came from 17 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania.
“Digital technologies are comprehensively reshaping the landscape of information communication,” Zhou said. New formats such as short videos and micro-dramas were “thriving”, she added, while artificial intelligence and ultra-high-definition technology were transforming how content is made and distributed.
Slides shown to the audience put numbers on the boom. Micro-dramas, defined as online series with episodes shorter than 15 minutes, are forecast to be worth more than 100bn yuan (about $14bn) by 2027. One slide described the app ReelShort as the “next TikTok”.
The shift is happening on top of an already vast audience. Television reaches 99.82% of China’s population and radio 99.74%. The country has 207 million cable subscribers, 385 million IPTV users and 340 million users of over-the-top streaming services, according to the presentation. It lists 1,115 high-definition channels, including all provincial-level channels, and 20 ultra-high-definition channels on major online platforms. Chinese-made 8K broadcast vehicles were used at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the slides said.
She also traced how far the industry has come. Radio began in the 1920s, with the first government radio service in 1928. Xinhua Radio Station in Yan’an, set up by the Communist party, followed in 1940, and the first international broadcast, in Japanese, in 1941. Television started with Beijing TV Station in 1958, and colour broadcasts in 1973. After the reform and opening-up of 1978, a “four-tier” policy in 1983 established broadcasters at central, provincial, city and county levels. She said the system now covers about 2,500 radio and TV stations. Authorities are building county-level “convergent media centres” that merge traditional and new media, and have cancelled 83 channel frequencies while optimising 47.
The training is part of a wider outreach effort. Officials said more than 7,500 trainees from 160 countries have attended programmes for developing countries, and that shows from Belarus, Mongolia and Kenya have been broadcast on Chinese regional stations including Tianjin, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi TV.
Zhou said China would work with partners in the spirit of the Silk Road, hoping broadcasting could serve as “an important channel for civilizational dialogue”. Participants were encouraged to “take what you see, hear and learn in China back home”.
