Even among Westerners who have dabbled in Chinese micro-dramas, few will have heard of Zhengzhou, the sooty city at the heart of the industry. In recent years the drab inland manufacturing hub of 13m has mostly made the news for deadly floods, factory protests and the severity of its real-estate crisis. Yet it is now churning out shows that are being watched around the world.
In 2023 Chinese marketing executives began shooting series of 90 episodes, each lasting two minutes, to promote the country’s online-novel industry. As social media began promoting the clips, the format took off. Zhengzhou wisely got in on the action early. Officials wrote micro-dramas into economic-planning documents, built studios and established state-owned investment funds dedicated to supporting the industry.
Zhengzhou’s property crisis has been an asset to micro-drama producers. Real-estate costs are so low in the city that vast film-production complexes can be set up on the cheap. Jumei Film Base, one of the largest studios, was built in 2023 in a derelict shopping centre on the outskirts of the city. The industry operates on bare-bones budgets, making Zhengzhou more attractive than Beijing or Shanghai. Local actors are paid just 1,000 yuan ($141) a day and often work gruelling hours. Their money goes much further in China’s interior.
Chinese micro-dramas are also starting to take off in the West. Some are even produced in America, with scripts translated into English and then shot in places such as California. But many micro-dramas aimed at Westerners are also being produced in Zhengzhou. Foreign actors who fly into the city can earn around $1,000 a day.
Creating content for foreign audiences on Chinese soil is sensitive. To sell well overseas, micro-dramas need racy plot lines that may break the Chinese government’s strict censorship rules. As a result, steamy scenes with foreign actors must be shot discreetly. Your correspondent was given freedom to wander Jumei’s facilities. But when he trod onto a set with scantily clad foreign actors, he was quickly shooed away. ■
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