With vast readership numbers and a unique presentation format, Chinese online literature is becoming the new darling of global readers.
Data from the China Writers Association showed that in 2025, there were approximately 200 million active overseas users of Chinese online literature, covering over 200 countries and regions around the world, with a market volume of over 5 billion yuan ($733.4 million).
Since the rise of short online literature, with its unique short story creation mode and content characteristics favored by young readers, it has not only achieved rapid development in China, but also gradually entered the international market.
For example, Yanyan Story, a sub-brand under content community Zhihu, made its debut at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, the world”s largest trade fair for books and publishing. Yanyan Story — a short story platform which grew up in a Q&A community — is promoting high-quality short story content overseas through various forms such as book publishing, short drama licensing and digital reading platform cooperation. At the book fair, the first appearance of Yanyan Story introduced a series of products including books, digital reading, audio dramas along with cultural and creative industries.
“On the one hand, Yanyan Story actively authorizes the overseas publication and production of physical book short dramas. On the other hand, it promotes the overseas dissemination of short stories through cooperation with overseas platforms. In the future, we will explore more diverse forms of cooperation to bring high-quality cultural products with both Chinese characteristics and local needs to overseas readers,” said a spokesperson of Zhihu.
According to Zhihu, the authorized books of Yanyan Story have exceeded 100, and have taken the lead in opening up markets in East and Southeast Asian markets such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. Among them, the book Heqinghaiyan, one of “The Three Yanyan Masterpieces” in 2024, has sold over 500,000 copies both domestically and internationally, ranking among the top three on Vietnam’s largest e-commerce platforms.
At the same time, Yanyan Story also took advantage of the wave of Chinese short dramas going global, authorizing the adaptation and production of various themes of online short dramas, including popular platform IPs. In addition, Yanyan Story has collaborated with overseas online reading platforms to authorize the translation of short works into seven languages — English, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Thai and Indonesian — helping accelerate the development of overseas markets.
Zhang Xinyuan, a researcher at Co-Found Think Tank, said: “The popularity of Chinese short dramas worldwide is a vivid reflection of the enhancement of China’s cultural soft power, and also a result of the innovative development of China’s online literature and digital content industry. This phenomenon fully demonstrates the unique charm and contemporary value of Chinese culture, and effectively promotes cultural exchange and mutual learning between China and foreign countries through forms that cater to the preferences of contemporary audiences, especially young people.”