According to the 'Blue Book of Chinese Online Literature' published by the Chinese Writers Association for 2025, by the end of this year, over 130,000 works of Chinese online literature have been distributed abroad. Furthermore, approximately 250 million international users and active readers have been registered in more than 200 countries and regions. Revenue from the overseas market exceeded 8 billion yuan (approximately 1.2 billion US dollars), including income from microdramas created on online literature platforms.
On the international platform qidian.com, one of China's largest online literature sites, the web novel 'Lord of Mysteries' has been translated into over 10 languages, becoming a significant success and a prime example of the global spread of Chinese literature.
'The Blue Book' notes that genres such as fantasy, wuxia, and historical prose often incorporate traditional Confucian and Taoist cultures, the spirit of chivalry, as well as a sense of family and homeland. These elements are becoming cultural markers of Chinese civilization that are embraced by readers worldwide.
Li Wei, a professor at Nanjing Normal University, noted that this also represents a two-way convergence between the drive to improve the quality of Chinese online literature and the changing expectations of young readers abroad.
Chinese online literature not only provides foreign readers with a rich selection of high-quality material but also opens up new opportunities for them to engage more deeply and create their own works.
The case of Kevin, a Brit born in the 1990s, demonstrates this process: after traditional publishers rejected his manuscript, he began publishing his work on a Chinese online literature platform. Several years later, his novel, which combines elements characteristic of Chinese web fantasy with Western fantasy settings, became a big hit.
He Xiaonan, CEO and President of Yuewen Group, a Chinese cultural company, stated that 'the global wave of co-creation is generating a new universe of youth cultural intellectual products led by young people, and a truly global market is being formed.'
Thanks to the rapid development of AI-based machine translation technology, more Chinese web novels can be translated into numerous languages with a single click, reaching readers around the world. Young people abroad are also joining this process, using the model of Chinese online literature to narrate their own cultural stories.
'The Blue Book' also emphasizes that the international expansion of Chinese online literature goes beyond the mere export of texts, encompassing narratives and cultural values. The Chinese online literature production model is successfully replicated abroad, becoming a sustainable driver of growth.
Wang Zhunze, General Manager of Overseas Business at Yuewen Group, stressed: 'We don't just want to send China's best stories abroad. We also hope to share with the world the creative experience, production mechanisms, and business models developed by Chinese online literature over more than two decades so that people worldwide who have the ability and desire to write can tell their own stories.'
In early 2026, the microdrama 'Yi Pin Bu Yi', produced by COL Group and licensed by a Chinese e-book content provider, became popular overseas. Adapted from a web novel, this microdrama kept many viewers engaged until late. Some viewers even turned the series information into illustrated guides, sparking a wave of fan-created content on social media abroad.
Ma Tao, Head of Strategy at COL Group, noted: 'The latest wave of cultural product globalization includes the coordinated expansion of diverse forms of content abroad, including online literature, video games, and microdramas, with online literature serving as the largest source of intellectual property for cultural products.'
In fact, the intellectual property of Chinese online literature has triggered a global boom in development and is deeply integrated into the world culture industry.