In the past few years, the development speed of micro-short dramas has far exceeded industry expectations.
From the first few minutes of pay-per-view dramas to today’s brand-customized dramas, cultural and travel skits, IP derivative dramas, and then to overseas distribution, micro-short dramas are no longer just a form of content on the mobile Internet, but have grown into an important part of the film and television industry.
The "China Online Audiovisual Development Research Report (2026)" shows that as of December 2025, the number of short video users in my country has reached 1.074 billion; the average daily usage time of micro-short drama users has reached 129 minutes. The "Guidelines for the Creation of Micro-Short Dramas" released by the China Network Audiovisual Association for the first and second quarters of 2026 show that in the first half of the year, a total of 367,000 micro-short dramas were launched on various platforms, with an average of more than 1,500 new AI (artificial intelligence) dramas flooding into the market every day, accounting for more than 74%.
The supply is massive, the track is hot, and the audience’s opinions are getting louder and louder. In the comment area of AI short dramas, you can often see similar comments such as "It's all the same face", "I can't remember" and so on.
On the occasion of the "hot and cold alternation", starting from September 1, 2026, the "Measures for the Development and Management of Micro-Short Dramas" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") issued by the State Administration of Radio and Television will be implemented. While continuing the existing filing and review systems, the "Measures" coordinate the development of micro-short dramas with content construction, industrial development, technological innovation, and international communication, further standardize the order of the industry, and define a more complete and clear development path for this emerging online literary and artistic form.
Industry insiders and experts interviewed by reporters from the "Rule of Law Daily" said that the "Measures" hit the key points of the industry's control of the "traffic impulse" of algorithms, placing "development" in an equally important position as "management", extending the reach of governance to the traffic distribution end, and promoting the industry to shift from "struggle for quantity" to "struggle for quality."
Precise policy implementation and classified management
Article 5 of the "Measures" stipulates that micro-short plays are divided into first-class micro-short plays, second-class micro-short plays and third-class micro-short plays according to investment amount, subject matter, etc., and the filing, publicity and distribution licensing systems are implemented according to the classification. The first type of micro-short drama refers to micro-short dramas with large investment amounts or special themes (hereinafter referred to as special themes) whose main plot involves politics, military, diplomacy, national security, etc. The second type of micro-short drama refers to micro-short dramas with relatively small investment amounts and general themes. The third type of micro-short drama refers to micro-short dramas with low investment amounts and general themes. The classification standards are formulated by the radio and television administration department of the State Council and adjusted in a timely manner based on the actual development of the industry.
Yang Ji, an associate professor at Zhejiang University of Communication, explained to reporters that the three types of micro-short dramas correspond to differentiated management measures. This "precision policy" regulatory approach reflects the distinctive characteristics of relaxation and discipline. For micro-short dramas with general themes, the market mechanism is allowed to operate on its own and the platform is constrained. At the same time, it focuses on strengthening the supervision of micro-short dramas with special themes and broad dissemination and social influence, which not only maintains the bottom line, but also leaves enough room for industry innovation.
Zhang Zizhong, a researcher at the "Hundred Talents Plan" of the School of Media and International Culture at Zhejiang University, believes that classified management is a further adjustment of the supervision method after the micro-short drama industry has developed to a specific stage. In his view, the industry was in a period of rapid growth in its early stages, with rapid market expansion and many problems gradually emerging during development. If the same management standards are applied to all works, it will lack accuracy and may inhibit normal innovative exploration. The core significance of classified management is to recognize the differences in types and development stages within micro-short dramas: works with larger investment scales and stronger social influence should bear more responsibilities; small-cost, experimental creations should be given corresponding space for exploration.
"Good governance is not simply about restraint, but about clearly defining the boundaries and allowing the industry to clearly understand the space for innovation and the bottom line of regulations, thereby promoting the healthy development of the industry," Zhang Zizhong said.
Control "traffic impulse"
The "Research Report on the Creation and Dissemination of Excellent Micro-Short Dramas in China (2026)" summarized the top ten common routines of traffic-based micro-short dramas such as "pretend to be a pig, eat a tiger and slap in the face" and "hide the expert to crush". At the same time, it pointed out that the homogeneous and routine-based creation models of micro-short dramas are rampant, the plots are severely templated, and the spread of some vulgar content distorts values.
Yang Ji told reporters that in this regard, the "Measures" not only drew 11 content red lines, but also extended the tentacles of management to the traffic distribution end, promoting the industry to shift from "struggle for quantity" to "struggle for quality," and hit the key point of the industry controlling the "traffic impulse" of algorithms.
Yang Ji further analyzed and pointed out that "quality in traffic" and "quality traffic" constitute a pair of key value assumptions: the former points to the starting point of content production, and the latter points to the goal of industry development. As a new form of audio-visual content, micro-short dramas are deeply bound to the traffic mechanism-traffic is not only the basis for its commercial realization, but also a necessary condition for it to reach users and expand its influence.
"This logic determines that micro-short dramas naturally have the inherent impulse to chase traffic." Yang Ji said that if you abandon quality standards and artistic principles, blindly cater to audience preferences, or even produce vulgar, vulgar or even marginal content, it is indeed possible to obtain considerable traffic in the short term. However, such a path comes at the expense of content quality and public interests, which not only distorts the industry ecology, but may also hit the legal red line of content supervision. Because of this, the restriction of "traffic impulse", the regulation of algorithm recommendation mechanisms, and the consolidation of platform subject responsibilities constitute three unavoidable dimensions in the governance of micro-short dramas.
It is worth noting that for the two major industry hot spots of AI-generated micro-short dramas and algorithm recommendations, the "Measures" specifically add restrictive clauses: for micro-short dramas generated and produced using artificial intelligence technology, the production agency and broadcasting unit shall abide by relevant national regulations and add reminder signs in prominent locations in each episode in accordance with relevant regulations. Units that broadcast micro-short dramas shall regularly review, evaluate, and verify algorithm mechanisms, models, data, and application results, give priority to recommending high-quality micro-short dramas, and shall not use algorithmic models that induce users to become addicted or over-consumption.
Zhang Zizhong believes that this is a crucial change. In the past, the market competition of micro-short dramas revolved around traffic to a large extent. The logic of traffic was over-strengthened, which easily drove creators to pursue short-term effects one-sidedly. Bringing platform algorithms and distribution mechanisms into the scope of governance is essentially an adjustment to the industry development evaluation standards - platforms and creators cannot only be oriented by the number of views, but should also pay attention to the value of content and truly transform traffic and attention into social benefits.
Quality is the only way to go
Experts interviewed noted that the "Measures" also placed "development" in an equally important position as "management" and proposed to "prosper micro-short dramas and strengthen new popular literature and art under the Internet conditions", encourage artistic expression, communication methods, new technology applications and business model innovations, and support the creation and broadcast of excellent micro-short dramas; at the same time, encourage the integration of micro-short dramas with various economic and social fields and industries to form new application scenarios, business models and economic formats, and support the creation and production of export-oriented micro-short dramas and international exchanges and cooperation.
In Zhang Zizhong's view, this is a more refined governance method. This is even more obvious for AI micro-short dramas: AI improves efficiency and lowers the threshold for creation, but it may also bring new problems, such as the convergence of characters and the repetition of narrative patterns. "At present, the trend of high-quality and high-quality AI micro-short dramas has emerged. AI has reduced production costs and improved production efficiency. After the technical threshold is lowered, what really widens the gap in the quality of works is the ability to produce content. In the future, the industry will not just compete with who can produce faster, but who can create more attractive stories." Zhang Zizhong said.
Yang Ji used "2C" to summarize the key for works in the era of AIGC (artificial intelligence generated content) to stand out. “2C” is the initials of Creativity and Cool: the former points to innovation and creativity, while the latter requires content to be cool and highly personal. In his view, the content supply in the AIGC era has increased exponentially, and the level of information overload is far higher than before. The basic logic for works to stand out is to be different, to have something that no one else has, and to be innovative when others have it.
"The core still lies in returning to the content itself." Zhang Zizhong emphasized that AI can help creators solve many problems in the production process, but what the audience ultimately pays attention to is not the technology, but the story. Whether the work can create distinctive characters, convey valuable emotions, and present creativity that is different from similar works determines whether it can truly stay. In the future, the development direction of AI micro-short dramas should be the in-depth integration of technology and creative capabilities: technology improves production efficiency, and creativity gives life to works.
Yang Ji said that under the institutional framework established by the "Measures", high-quality works will continue to emerge in the future, and "mega-productions" with large productions, large scenes, and strong lineups may also appear. At the same time, low-cost, compact works with the effect of making a huge difference should also be allowed and accepted. The industry will further strengthen the integration of technology and creation, improve the production capacity of high-quality content, and promote micro-short dramas to achieve higher levels of development in terms of content quality, industry development and international communication.
Reporter's Notes
In recent years, micro-short dramas have become a topic of widespread concern.
The reporter first noticed the micro-short drama on the high-speed train back to Beijing in 2024. An aunt sitting next to me held up her mobile phone and watched each episode in a few minutes, fascinated. At that time, no one would have thought that this kind of "electronic mustard" would grow into a tens of billions of industries in the future, and that it would bring Hengdian's extras back to the studio, and allow reporters to write down unfamiliar to familiar terms one after another in their interview notebooks.
Industry ran wild, followed closely by problems. In interviews over the past few years, I have heard too many heart-wrenching stories: Some people recharged tens of thousands of yuan to watch TV dramas, but when defending their rights, they couldn’t even tell who the producer was; there were old people holding their mobile phones late at night to watch short skits, but their children wanted to take care of them but couldn’t do it; some creators frankly said, “If you don’t write ‘Chuang Dian’, there will be no traffic, and if you write ‘Chuang Dian’, you will feel uneasy.” The words are all involuntarily.
In fact, the rules are always on the way. From the inclusion of micro-short dramas in record-keeping management, to multiple special rectifications and removal of illegal dramas, to the launch of high-quality creation support plans - governance has always been followed up, but mostly in the form of notices and normative documents. The industry refers to the short dramas during that period as "barbaric growth", but in fact, governance is "rushing".
On September 1, 2026, the "Measures for the Development and Management of Micro-Short Dramas" came into effect. This is my country's first departmental regulation specifically targeting micro-short dramas. Micro-short dramas have been solemnly included in the coordinate system of the rule of law: there is evidence for filing, there are rules for review, there are certificates for issuance, the red lines are clear, and the responsibilities are clear. A new business format with an annual output of hundreds of thousands of units and hundreds of millions of users now has a stable and predictable foundation of rules.
The implementation of the system is no easier than the introduction of the system. Can the red line stop attempts at side kicks? After the "traffic impulse" of the algorithm is reined in, will the platform really change the model, or will it just be superficial? The answers to these questions still need to be tested in practice.
The reporter hopes that one day in the future, people's mobile phones will be playing short dramas that are worth spending time to watch; they also expect that domestic micro-short dramas will "splash" on the screens in foreign countries and become a new carrier for telling Chinese stories; and they also hope that when another new technology gives birth to another new business format, people will be reminded of the path that micro-short dramas have taken, and there will be an additional reference path for "how new business formats can enter the track of the rule of law."
