China’s ‘micro drama’ industry emerges as jobs lifeline in tough graduate labour market
The bite-sized series now rival box office hits in popularity – and with that success comes opportunity
A commuter watches micro drama on her mobile phone at a train station in Beijing, China. (File photo: CNA)
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Over 10 million students graduate from Chinese universities every year, straining an already crowded labour market.
Yet the “micro drama” industry is emerging as a crucial lifeline for hundreds of thousands of young jobseekers: offering the chance to turn creativity into a stable pay cheque.
The sector was estimated to directly generate about 690,000 jobs in 2025 – mostly for young people – and over 2 million positions when counting upstream and downstream roles, according to a recent report by Peking University’s National School of Development.
The emerging industry – whose dramas run just a few minutes per episode, with fast-paced storylines and frequent twists meant to capture eyeballs – has relatively low entry barriers and sustainable opportunities, particularly important given chronically high youth unemployment, the report’s authors said.
The national monthly output of micro dramas has stabilised at about 3,000, according to state-run news agency Xinhua, with an increasingly mature division of labour.
When the industry first emerged, low-cost production teams typically consisted of about 12 people, while micro drama crews now number between 60 and 90, spanning roles in directing, cinematography, lighting, costumes, props and management, according to the Peking University report.
With filming cycles lasting just five to 10 days, the industry promotes a high-frequency, standardised production output, supporting more stable employment opportunities, they added.
This, in turn, has drawn long-term unemployed graduates and those without stable work into the sector, including some overseas students.
Shutian Yu, a University of Sussex master’s graduate in her early 30s, had no stable career until she began acting in micro dramas in 2024.
In a social media post last year, she posted that she could earn a stable income of up to 15,000 yuan (US$2,161) per month and had invested 70,000 yuan of her own savings to produce a micro drama, hiring several friends.
Her story has become increasingly common. As the sector grows, graduates from a wide range of disciplines – from finance to the arts – are entering the industry.
According to the China Television Drama Production Industry Association, the market for micro dramas surpassed 50.5 billion yuan (US$7.1 billion) in 2024, overtaking national box office revenue, and could reach 85.6 billion yuan by 2027.
The bite-sized series drew an audience of more than 660 million people nationwide in the same year, making the sector one of the fastest-growing in the Chinese entertainment industry.
Beyond creating jobs for young people, the micro drama boom has seen stalled commercial and residential properties repurposed into film sets, where production crews shoot family feuds and love triangles.
In Xinzheng, a county in Henan province, a vacant mall has been refashioned into a filming base, producing about 700 micro dramas in under a year and hosting eight to nine crews daily, according to the Guangdong-based news website TFCaijing.com.
Offices and industrial estates in many other parts of the country have reportedly opened their doors to production crews for daily or hourly rentals.
“Traditional film and television industries are increasingly limited in their ability to absorb young talent,” said Guan Zhi, an independent film producer.
“By contrast, micro dramas have surged in popularity over the past two years, quickly attracting audiences while creating new investment and career opportunities.”
This article was first published on SCMP.
