STVFORUM | Export of Content – To Tell Chinese Stories, Showcase Chinese culture, and Spread Chinese voice

Since the start of the new era, Chinese TV content has seen continuous progress with enriched themes, expanded international communication scale, increasing channels and platforms, and diversified communication modes. And the focus of “going global” has shifted to international cooperation and collaboration, with the scale and quality of TV content export boosted at the same time. A large number of TV dramas revealing the reality of China’s current life, such as LIKE A FLOWING RIVER, MINNING TOWN and NOTHING BUT THIRTY, are widely welcomed by overseas audiences, and the efficacy and influence of international communication of Chinese TV content is on the rise.

Yan Chengsheng, Vice Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and Director of the International Cooperation Department of National Radio and Television Administration

On the afternoon of June 20, the 28th STVF held a forum on “Market Insight and Innovation of Global Content Collaboration”. Yan Chengsheng, Vice Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and Director of the International Cooperation Department of National Radio and Television Administration, said in his speech that through many projects, including the “Audiovisual China”, the global showcase project, China has built a well-rounded international communication model: “Magnificent Chinese audiovisual programs that console souls have brought warmth and strength to audiences around the world, with the quality and efficiency being steadily improved. In 2022, the export volume of audiovisual programs and services has exceeded USD 200 million for the first time, where private enterprises and network platforms have played the leading role in international communication.”

At the forum, representatives from all sides of the TV industry discussed in depth how to broaden "overseas" themes based on the consumption features of overseas audiences, how to adapt to new technology trends to deploy overseas channels, how to integrate into overseas markets for localized operations, etc.

Luo Yi, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism and Shanghai Municipal Administration of Radio and Television, attended the forum.

Quality content and innovative expressions

Export of Chinese TV content can be traced back to the 1980s and 1990s, when TV dramas adapted from famous novels such as Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms became popular in some parts of Asia, and in 2015, the hit costume drama EMPRESSES IN THE PALACE was launched on overseas platforms and quickly broke through the cultural barriers between the East and the West, bringing the globalization of domestic dramas into a new era. In recent years, domestic dramas have further expanded their channels and scale, with A LIFELONG JOURNEY being purchased by Disney for exclusive overseas broadcast rights as soon as the filming began; the suspense drama RESET winning praise from overseas audiences; and the poverty alleviation drama MINNING TOWN being screened in many countries and regions around the world.

Ge Lai, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation, and Chairman of Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation

IF YOU ARE THE ONE and THE BRAIN are domestic phenomenal hot programs that have been exported to twelve countries on four continents. “They have offered a glimpse into the social development of contemporary China, especially the mentality of Chinese young people.” Ge Lai, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation, and Chairman of Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation, noted that “Since their launch, we have organized special overseas screenings to promote the programs in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and we’ve specifically invited a professional team familiar with both Chinese and Australian cultures to translate the programs into accurate and authentic English, so that Australian viewers can also understand the wits and humor of the host and guests. Thus, with the ‘communication gap’ narrowed, they were acclaimed by the local audience.”

Having accumulated years of experience through the “to-go-global" practice, Ge Lai insists on “quality content and innovative expressions”. The international co-production documentary CHINA ALONG THE BEIJING-HANGZHOU CANAL that tailored for foreign audiences is an excellent exported work for the world to see China. “We will be committed to being a good narrator of Chinese stories, to show the traditional Chinese culture, along with the past, the present, and the future of China before global audiences.”

Ryota Kotani, Chief Producer, NHK

In the opinion of Ryota Kotani, Chief Producer, NHK, China’s long history and culture has opened the eyes of overseas audiences, and “Japanese audiences are keenly interested in the stories of various Chinese dynasties.”

Sergey Moldovan, Copyright Manager of Russian streaming platform OKKO

Sergey Moldovan, Copyright Manager of Russian streaming platform OKKO, who focused his trip on seeking quality copyrighted content, praised TV series such as LIKE A FLOWING RIVER and HUNTING, saying that Russian audiences really like these kinds of dramas.

Raziz Zhuranov, Head of the International Department of the National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan (MTRK)

Raziz Zhuranov , Head of the International Department of the National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan (MTRK), also highlighted international cooperation, saying that “The National Radio and Television Administration of China has given us a lot of support, such as technical cooperation and support, while we have also signed agreements to push ahead with cooperation on TV projects.”

From cooperation with overseas channels to construction of an independent channel

Chen Xiao, Senior Vice President of iQIYI

As one of the earliest video platforms to explore internationalization, iQIYI has experienced the change from “going global with content” to “going global with platforms”, and Chen Xiao, Senior Vice President of iQIYI, shared with us their achievements in “going global” in the past five years: global users’ interest in Chinese dramas has been rising and thus boosted their influence; Chinese language users have covered the world, mainly in Asia, accounting for 65.8%.

The international communication of iQIYI’s export of domestic content has been renewed by relying on independent channels rather than overseas channels. Since 2015, distributed by overseas online video platforms, content exported by iQIYI has garnered a total of 10 billion views; in 2017, with the aid of overseas traditional channels or new media platforms, iQIYI released more than 7,000 episodes of dramas, 300 movies and 300 variety programs, in more than 200 countries and regions; and in 2019, iQIYI reached cooperation with Malaysia’s media platforms to jointly launch iQIYI’s independent TV HD channel and broadcast content from China on local satellite channels.

Following the initial success of cooperating with overseas channels, iQIYI began to “build its independent channel” and officially launched the international version of iQIYI App in 2019. “In 2020, we established an international business headquarters in Singapore; in 2021, the international version of iQIYI App became the most popular app in Malaysia and Thailand in terms of download volume; in 2022, the cumulative downloads of the international version exceeded 100 million. Years of efforts in “building our own channel” is quite rewarding.” Chen Xiao said.

After the inception of the independent channel, the efficacy of international communication of content has also been greatly improved. Chen Xiao attributed everything to this “independent channel”, “We built it by ourselves, and it will serve to distribute Chinese content as much as possible.”

Lu Di, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor of School of Journalism & Communication, and Director of Audiovisual Communication Research Center, Peking University

With the independent channel for us to “go global”, how to take further the international communication of domestic content? Lu Di, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor of School of Journalism & Communication, and Director of Audiovisual Communication Research Center, Peking University, proposed strategic logic and path. That is, first, carry out effective communication in countries around us to ensure basic viewership; second, bring domestic content to major countries, friendly countries and countries at key nodes.” Lu Di also suggested that we should rely on national strategies, China's large-scale enterprises and projects overseas, along with Chinese, overseas Chinese and Chinese media for communication.

Localized operation of exported content empowered by technology

As for how to quickly adapt to the overseas markets and roll out local operation after the export of Chinese content, technology may act as an invaluable ally. Taking the international version of iQIYI as an example, more than 87% of international users will find the broadcast starts within 2 seconds after they click the play button, which is far ahead in competition, not to mention its trump card of multilingual low-latency live translation technology. “Our translation and real-time orchestration system is designed to support user interfaces and subtitles in 12 languages, which provides translation and correction online for multiple users at the same time.” And these highly advanced technologies have all served to escort the way of Chinese content toward the global market.

Zeng Yingxue, Senior Vice President and Head of Film and TV Business of Perfect World

According to Zeng Yingxue, Senior Vice President and Head of Film and TV Business of Perfect World, martial arts, immortal and historical themes reflecting traditional Chinese culture have always been immensely popular, while realistic themes reflecting the spiritual outlook of Chinese society and people’s lives are also gaining momentum. For example, A BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER-IN-LAW ERA, which spotlights the relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, became a hit instantly following its release in Africa.

Wang Zheng, General Manager of YoyWow (Shenzhen)

Wang Zheng, General Manager of YoyWow (Shenzhen), also emphasized “multilingual translation”. “There are about 60 million overseas audiences for Chinese content. We have already operated overseas in 11 languages.”

The application of 4K resolution technology has also boosted localized operation and communication. “For example, after the resolution of JOURNEY TO THE WEST was upgraded to 4K, the overseas views have increased from 1 million to more than 4 million.” Said Wang Zheng, “Although viewing revenue cannot cover the cost of 4K technology, technology blessing is very conductive to content communication.”

Translation and resolution together enhance the communication effect, but the acceptance and understanding of the content vary from country to country, so secondary creation becomes the key to communication and operation. Wang Zheng said, “For us, the play volume of re-created works can exceed that of original works.”

Luo Gaocheng, Deputy General Manager of Fangte

Luo Gaocheng, Deputy General Manager of Fangte, summarized two global tips based on the experience drawn from BOONIE BEARS: “Firstly, global appeal. In this way, global audience can understand the content, and immerse themselves in the story. Secondly, global distribution. There should be a good distribution team for quality content, to spread it to overseas media and platforms. And the two tips combined will carry out content to the whole world.”

Hu Xu, Chairman of Growing Up with Tiantian Pictures (Shenzhen)

Growing Up with Tiantian Pictures (Shenzhen) produced the animation GROWING UP WITH TIANTIAN. Zooming in on the growth story of an ordinary family, this work serves to enlighten children’s aesthetic, and has been acclaimed on overseas platforms, thanks to effective localized communication operation. According to Hu Xu, Chairman of Growing Up with Tiantian Pictures (Shenzhen), when releasing the animation in Vietnam, they even asked a local professional children’s singer to cover the theme song to make the work accepted easier among local children.

Build partnerships to “go global”

Wan Ruoruo, Deputy Director of the Foreign Communication Center of Intercontinental communication center (CICC)

Chinese content exported has won recognition, and international co-production has become a general formula. Wan Ruoruo, deputy director of the Foreign Communication Center of Intercontinental communication center (CICC), has more than 20 years of co-production experience. “We have reached international co-production cooperation with more than 40 countries and 100 institutions around the world, and have produced more than 400 hours of works that have effectively reached 3.8 billion viewers worldwide.” It is reported that CICC has now reached regular program cooperation with international mainstream media to achieve regular supply and broadcasting of Chinese programs. In addition, in the countries along the Belt and Road route, the center has carried out joint construction and program exchange cooperation with local mainstream media on a regional basis. In recent years, they have started to develop programs with Russia and Central Asia.

Lv Bo, Senior Partner of IFA Media (Singapore) and General Manager of IFA Media (Beijing)

Lv Bo, Senior Partner of IFA Media (Singapore) and General Manager of IFA Media (Beijing), said that they have been deeply involved in the Asian market for 20 years, and from working on programs for the Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel in the U.S., to now working with HBO and Netflix, co-productions have become the norm. “Our main focus later is to export more Chinese TV dramas and films through more overseas platforms, and we have been exploring the possibilities in this regard.”