iQIYI's global growth signals rising worldwide demand for Chinese content

Photo shows English-language posters of selected Chinese productions distributed overseas. (Photo courtesy of iQIYI)

China's leading online entertainment platform iQIYI saw its international service record a remarkable 114.5 percent year-on-year increase in global views in 2025, driven primarily by strong demand for Chinese content, according to the company's 2025 Global Trending Content report.

The most striking feature of the report is the growing number of Chinese program genres achieving international success, as Chinese streaming platforms have moved beyond Southeast Asia into higher-value overseas markets, said Zhu Xinmei, director and researcher at the International Communication Research Institute under the Development Research Center of the National Radio and Television Administration.

"This represents the inevitable outcome of years of accumulated experience in Chinese content production and platform internationalization," Zhu said.

The success stems from coordinated efforts across three areas: content, technology and operations.

Dramas continued to lead growth, while animation, films and micro-dramas also achieved success, according to the report.

"Chinese online video platforms now possess strong international communication capabilities that can empower different program types, while quality content brings new traffic to platforms, further strengthening integrated development between content and platforms," Zhu said.

The top 10 Chinese-language drama series on iQIYI International's annual rankings span multiple genres, including urban romance, fantasy-adventure and detective thrillers. The chart-topping romance drama "The Best Thing" weaves traditional Chinese medicine into a contemporary love story, giving overseas audiences a natural taste of Eastern culture.

According to iQIYI's data, during the second quarter of 2025, micro-drama revenue from overseas subscribers rose steadily month by month. By the end of June 2025, micro-dramas had become the second-largest subscriber-acquisition category in Indonesia, South Korea and Brazil.

Industry analysts attribute this to the platform's precise understanding of overseas viewing habits, targeted deployment of micro-drama content, and use of artificial intelligence to rapidly complete dubbing and distribution, enabling this new genre to enter multiple markets efficiently.

What drives the flourishing overseas expansion of Chinese content? According to Zhu, the first factor is strengthening content development by enriching program types — drama series, films, animation and variety shows — based on different markets' viewing demands and preferences. This includes acquiring programs from other countries, such as Thai and South Korean dramas. The second is enhancing local-language dubbing to effectively bridge cultural distances.

For iQIYI, localization goes beyond simple translation to "cultural adaptation," which involves integrating Chinese-language content into local cultural contexts and everyday scenarios. This strategy has proven effective in Southeast Asian markets. In Thailand, eight of the top 10 popular series on iQIYI International are Chinese dramas dubbed into Thai.

In addition, technology supports localized distribution. iQIYI leverages AI to edit and translate promotional videos, significantly improving distribution efficiency and reducing operational costs. AI can rapidly adapt to different markets' languages and aesthetics, generating promotional content aligned with local user preferences and enabling cross-cultural distribution in more accessible ways.

To sustain the positive momentum of Chinese films and drama series' global expansion, Zhu emphasizes creating premium productions and strengthening international distribution of anime, animation and variety programs. Platforms should also enhance their international communication capabilities by increasing AI investment in dubbing and translation to reduce costs and expand scale.

Zhu also suggests strengthening international cooperation through overseas content acquisition and co-production of local programs, as well as boosting visibility across regions through social media marketing and offline activities.

According to iQIYI's earnings reports, its overseas operations maintained robust growth from 2021 through the third quarter of 2025, with total revenue in that quarter recording the highest year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter increases in nearly two years. In 2025, iQIYI expanded into the Middle East and Latin American markets while strengthening its presence in Southeast Asia and North America.