economy
China’s AI drive threatens the world’s largest workforce
Li Dazhi paced back and forth on a set resembling a chief executive’s office as he rehearsed lines in Zhengzhou, a city in central China that has become a hub for microdramas. The serialised minute-long shows have taken over phone screens across the country; one in two people watch them. In 2025 microdramas grew into a 100bn yuan ($15bn) business, having created some 700,000 jobs and perhaps 1.3m indirect ones—a rare bright spot of dynamism in China’s sputtering economy.
TL;DR
- Microdramas are minute-long serialised shows popular on phone screens in China.
- By 2025, the microdrama industry reached 100 billion yuan ($15 billion).
- The sector created around 700,000 direct jobs and potentially 1.3 million indirect jobs.
- This industry is seen as a rare dynamic sector in China's slowing economy.