Gangsters, billionaires and love triangles: Behind the scenes of China’s micro-drama boom
It was a pretty wild morning.
In the space of just a few hours, we witnessed a gangland killing, a jewellery heist and stepped onboard a private jet.
We observed a billionaire CEO at work, a dramatic family showdown in a hospital and a drunken karaoke party.
It was all part of a tour around a massive Chinese facility producing what are known as vertical micro-dramas. To describe the experience as somewhat dizzying is an understatement.
If you haven’t heard of them, micro-dramas are a new cultural sensation sweeping not just China but the world, a remarkable example of China’s booming soft power.
They are essentially serialised productions split into episodes of roughly a minute, shot in vertical and viewed solely on smartphones.
Think soap operas for the TikTok generation.
‘Secret surrogate to the Mafia King’
The story lines are sensational and melodramatic with titles that border the ridiculous; ‘Ex-Convict nanny and Billionaire single dad’, ‘Pregnant by my Tough Daddy CEO’ and ‘Secret Surrogate to the Mafia King’, just some examples.
Micro dramas are designed to be watched on smartphones only
The action is fast and the characters simplistic, while autoplay and multiple mini cliff hangers are designed to provide an addictive dopamine hit.
It’s a format which has sprung to life in just the last few years, developed initially in China in the wake of the pandemic, and its success has been extraordinary.
Some of the most-watched titles have hundreds of millions of views and downloads of short drama apps were over six times higher in the first quarter of 2025 than that same period last year, according to data from Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm.
The Chinese government recently revealed that over 50% of all internet users in China have watched a micro-drama, more than have ordered food online or used a ride-hailing service.
‘You can easily binge five or six episodes on the subway commute’
One of the many set designs in the production factory
“People’s lives are so stressful and packed these days,” explains Ji Jingdong, a producer of micro-dramas who made the switch from traditional film around three years ago.
“When you watch vertical-screen content, you can easily binge five or six episodes on the subway commute, right? And let’s face it, you’re barely halfway through an ordinary TV episode before you reach your stop.
“Scrolling through vertical screens at a fast pace is actually pretty stress-relieving. Especially those so-called ‘mindless dramas’ – they’re incredibly relaxing to watch.”
That mass appeal, paired with extremely fast turnaround times and no-frills production is translating into massive revenues.
Read more from Sky News:
Tel Aviv football derby cancelled after ‘violent riots’
Eight ‘priceless’ objects stolen in Louvre museum heist
Last year, the industry revenue was an astonishing $6.9bn, for the first time exceeding the value of the Chinese box office.
Its figure is almost 14 times as high as in 2021, just three years ago.
But with this huge reach and revenues comes both challenge and opportunity for a system like China where everything including cultural products is strictly controlled.
An actor is filmed for the latest micro-drama
1,200 series taken down
Indeed in February of this year over 1,200 series were taken down, deemed too “vulgar” or inappropriate, while a wave of new regulations now require projects over a certain value to have government approval.
In addition there are initiatives to encourage production houses to make dramas that promote certain values such as ‘Learn the law with Micro-Short Dramas’ and ‘Explore intangible cultural heritage through micro short dramas’.
It’s a framework they are aware of at the Meigao Micro Drama Super Factory, in the southeastern city of Quzhou.
This 67,000 square metre facility was initially constructed as a COVID quarantine hotel, but it now houses around 200 different sets where multiple crews can shoot their dramas simultaneously.
There is almost any indoor environment you could imagine – from a bank, courthouse and subway to a ballroom, office and multiple home environments.
The CEO Dai Wenxue explains with pride how they made 500 micro-dramas last year.
But there is also a clear acknowledgement that the transformation of this venue was achieved with local government support, and that this massive Chinese success story also serves a political purpose.
The industry revenue was $6.9bn last year
Aligning with ‘the nation’s overarching strategic vision’
“The early phase emphasised growth, with the government taking a relatively relaxed but not lax approach,” he explains. “Now, the focus has shifted toward premium production, cultural exports and telling compelling Chinese stories.
“This aligns with the nation’s overarching strategic vision. That’s the current landscape.”
Indeed, while the majority of productions are fun and frivolous, for its critics, the industry is a perfect propaganda tool.
This autumn, in fact, saw a huge boom in government-encouraged patriotic war productions to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two and a huge accompanying military parade in Beijing.
All this mattered because the format is now being aggressively exported abroad.
The Meigao Micro Drama Super Factory in Quzhou
Almost all production houses worth their salt are leaning into English language productions. Meigao is in fact building an entire second location with American-style scenes.
And it’s no wonder when you look at the numbers. According to analysis undertaken by Sensor Tower, in the first quarter of 2025, downloads in the US had gone up 54% compared to the same period in 2024. In Latin America it was 69% and in India a remarkable 113%.
‘A huge uptick’
“So in the past 10 months, right after the Chinese New Year, there was definitely a huge uptick,” says Max Olsen, an American actor living in Beijing. For him and other Western actors there has been a hugely noticeable boom in work .
“A bunch of productions decided that they were going to shoot, you know, they’re going to produce one a week.
“Obviously, with money, with eyeballs, with attention, comes a degree of power.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Three things you may have missed from China this week
There are of course questions about how this type of soft power translates and what China could or would do with it. But it is just one of a number of cultural exports playing into a trend of China positioning itself as accessible and relatable, even ‘cool’.
Indeed for such a new format there is clearly still results yet to be seen.
“I don’t think the double-digit growth will continue forever,” says Olsen.
“But I suspect in five years’ time, we’ll have a very established industry.”
At least 65 people have been killed, and police have made several arrests, after a huge fire engulfed a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong.
Authorities said nearly 300 people are also missing following the blaze at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po – a suburban district with around 300,000 residents, near the border with mainland China.
A further 70 people have been injured, including more than 40 who were described as critically ill in hospital on Wednesday night. Around 900 people are also in shelters as a result of the blaze.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Deadly blaze destroys Hong Kong tower blocks
Police have alleged its cause could have been a “grossly negligent” construction firm using unsafe materials.
Three people – two directors and an engineering consultant – have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
“We have reason to believe that the company’s responsible parties were grossly negligent, which led to this accident and caused the fire to spread uncontrollably, resulting in major casualties,” said police superintendent Eileen Chung. Police have not named the company.
The complex, built in the 1980s, had been under renovation for a year.
Smoke rising from the Wang Fuk Court residential complex. Pic: AP Photo/Chan Long Hei
The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon. Pic: Reuters
Dozens of people remain in hospital, some are critically injured. Pic: AP Photo/Chan Long Hei
One firefighter was among those killed tackling the blaze, which broke out at 2.51pm local time on Wednesday.
Fire crews said they had doused the flames in all seven of the affected blocks by Thursday morning, and were searching each floor for survivors.
Records show the Wang Fuk Court site consists of eight blocks, with almost 2,000 flats housing around 4,800 residents, including many elderly people.
A relative of a resident at the scene. Pic: Reuters
Families have been identifying the bodies of relatives while others have been visiting shelters in the area, searching for missing loved ones.
Hong Kong leader John Lee said on Thursday the government will set up a HK$300m (£29m) fund to help residents.
Charred bamboo and plastic mesh covers the complex, which was undergoing renovation works. Pic: Reuters
Firefighters searching between floors at one of the high-rise blocks. Pic: Reuters
The cause of the fire is being investigated, but it appears to have started in bamboo scaffolding and construction mesh sheets and then spread across seven of the complex’s eight buildings – likely aided by windy conditions.
Bamboo scaffolding is commonly used in Hong Kong, but is in the process of being phased out because of safety concerns.
Hong Kong’s Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims said there have been at least three fires involving bamboo scaffolding this year.
Temporary shelters have been set up for residents. Pic: AP
Supplies are brought to a school which is serving as a shelter. Pic: Kyodo/AP
Read more from Sky News:
Trump condemns ‘monstrous’ attack
Woman killed in shark attack
UK criticised over detained couple
China’s state broadcaster CCTV said President Xi Jinping has urged an “all-out effort” to extinguish the fire and minimise casualties and losses.
Both the US and British Consulate Generals for Hong Kong have sent condolences to those affected, as has Taiwan’s president.
Parts of the huge complex were still smouldering on Thursday. Pic: AP
Firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. Pic: AP
The number of dead is the highest in a Hong Kong fire since 1948, when 176 people were killed in a warehouse blaze.
The fire has prompted comparisons to the Grenfell Tower blaze which killed 72 people in 2017, blamed on flammable cladding, as well as failings by the government and the construction industry.
“Our hearts go out to all those affected by the horrific fire in Hong Kong,” the Grenfell United survivors’ group said on
social media.
“To the families, friends and communities, we stand with you. You are not alone.”
World
Washington DC shooting: Trump condemns ‘monstrous’ attack near White House – and says suspect is Afghan national
Donald Trump has called for every Afghan national who entered the US under the Biden administration to be investigated following the shooting of two National Guard troops near the White House.
The president said the “monstrous, ambush-style attack” was carried out by an Afghan national who arrived in September 2021 during America’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul.
“This attack underscores the single greatest national security threat facing our nation,” Mr Trump said in an address to the nation from Florida.
He vowed to “reexamine every single alien” who has entered the US from Afghanistan under the previous government, and said: “I am determined to ensure the animal who perpetrated this atrocity will pay the steepest possible price.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump condemns ‘animal’ shooting suspect
Suspect to face terror probe
America’s citizenship and immigration office said it had stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely.
The suspect in custody is 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal.
Both guardsmen were shot in the head, according to NBC, citing senior officials briefed on the investigation.
Wednesday’s shooting – carried out with a handgun – will be investigated by the FBI as a possible act of terror.
The White House was placed into lockdown following the incident, while Mr Trump is away for Thanksgiving.
Pics: AP
Victims in ‘critical condition’
West Virginia’s governor initially said both victims were members of his state’s National Guard and had died from their injuries – but later posted to say there were “conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members”.
Patrick Morrisey had said: “These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country.”
👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈
Hundreds of National Guard members have been patrolling the capital after Mr Trump issued an emergency order in August, which federalised the local police force and sent in the guard from eight states and the District of Columbia.
Mr Trump has announced an extra 500 troops will be deployed in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting.
FBI director Kash Patel said the troops were “brazenly attacked in a horrendous act of violence”.
At a news conference, he clarified they were in a “critical condition”.
Pic: AP
Former president Joe Biden, who was heavily criticised by Mr Trump in his address, said he and his wife Jill were “heartbroken” by the shooting.
“Violence of any kind is unacceptable, and we must all stand united against it,” said a statement.
How the attack unfolded
Jeff Carroll, chief of the metropolitan police department in the area, said the attack began at 2.15pm local time (7.15pm in the UK) while National Guard members were on “high visibility patrols in the area”.
He said: “A suspect came around the corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged it at the National Guard.
“The National Guard members were… able to – after some back and forth – able to subdue the individual and bring them into custody.”
Washington DC mayor Muriel Bowser called the attack a “targeted shooting”.
Pics: AP
Social media footage showed first responders attempting CPR on one of the soldiers as they treated the other on a pavement covered in glass.
Nearby other officers could be seen restraining an individual on the ground.
Emergency personnel cordon off an area near where the National Guard soldiers were shot. Pics: AP
The scene was cordoned off by police tape, while agents from the US Secret Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives attended the scene, as National Guard troops stood sentry nearby.
The FBI was also on the scene, the agency’s director said.
A woman has been killed by a shark and a man seriously injured at a popular beach in Australia.
Emergency services were alerted to the attack at Crowdy Bay National Park, near Port Macquarie, around 218 miles north of Sydney, at 6.30am local time on Thursday.
They were responding to reports two people had been bitten by a shark.
The pair had entered the water at Kylies Beach, a popular surfing spot, for an early morning swim.
The woman, who is believed to be in her 20s, died at the scene. She has not yet been identified.
The man, also understood to be in his 20s, was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.
He is now said to be in a serious but stable condition, with police believing a bystander’s first aid may have prevented a double fatality.
Police Chief Inspector Timothy Bayly said: “I just really need to have a shoutout to the bystander on the beach who put a makeshift tourniquet on the male’s leg which obviously potentially saved his life and allowed New South Wales Ambulance paramedics to get to him and render first aid.”
The officer did not give any further details of the injuries or circumstances of the attack.
He said: “At this stage, all I’m prepared to say is they were known to each other and they were going for a swim and the shark attacked.”
Read more:
Man killed in shark attack in Australia after screams heard
Girl , 17, killed by shark while swimming in Queensland
Shark attacks on two people are very rare, experts say. File pic: iStock
Experts said it is rare for a shark to attack more than one person.
Gavin Naylor, director of the University of Florida‘s shark research programme, said: “It is very unusual. Individual shark attacks are rare. And shark attacks on two people by the same individual is not unheard of, but it’s very rare.”
He added: “Sometimes younger sharks are less judicious and they can make mistakes. Where sharks are close to seal colonies and feeding, the probability (of attack) is higher.
“The few bites that we do have where a single shark has bitten multiple people, it’s usually tiger sharks. We’ve never seen white sharks do that unless somebody’s heroically jumping in the way.”
The beach – known for camping, fishing spots and hiking tracks – has been closed to the public as authorities work to determine the species of shark involved.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024