Chinese Dramas Break New Ground on Global Streaming Platforms

Beyond the strong overseas performance of Chinese films such as "Ne Zha 2," "Dead To Rights," and "Detective Chinatown 1900," 2025 also proved to be a breakthrough year for Chinese TV dramas on international streaming platforms such as Netflix.

With significant improvements in production quality and global reach, Chinese drama series have become an increasingly important part of Netflix's lineup. International viewers can now enjoy a wide range of Chinese series, and Chinese storytelling is becoming ever more diverse and multidimensional.

Last year, urban romance series "The First Frost" climbed as high as No. 6 on Netflix's global daily chart and topped the platform's rankings in regions including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Meanwhile, the costume drama "Legend of Zang Hai" has been released simultaneously on multiple international platforms, including Disney+ and Netflix, reaching audiences across 190 countries and regions. Its IMDb (Internet Movie Database) rating once surged to as high as 9.5, setting a new record for Chinese TV dramas in terms of overseas rating.

Industry insiders noted that 2025 marked a year of great progress for domestic dramas on overseas streaming platforms, most notably reflected in the diversities in genres and themes.

Foreign fans also shared positive reviews of Chinese series that performed strongly overseas last year. Netizen "imdbfan-527818" commented that he learns a lot about Eastern culture by watching dramas like "Legend of Zang Hai."

"Many intangible cultural heritages are presented in the drama," the netizen added. "They are treasures of mankind and the scenes are full of Chinese aesthetic charm."

The overseas passion for Chinese dramas dates back to March 2015, when "Empresses in the Palace" officially landed on Netflix with English subtitles and gained international attention.

The drama's original 76-episode run was condensed into six 90-minute episodes, and, with its distinctive Chinese cultural elements, the series became a gateway for Chinese costume dramas to enter international mainstream streaming platforms.

Two years later, Netflix acquired the streaming rights to "Day and Night," marking the platform's first purchase of a Chinese mainland web series. In 2019, suspense series "The Longest Day in Chang'an" was also made available in North America as "premium content" on online platforms such as Viki, Amazon and YouTube, marking the first time a Chinese drama entered the subscription-based sections of these overseas platforms.

Officials from Chinese video platform Youku's overseas distribution operations noted that today, the main audience for Chinese dramas is in Southeast Asia, while regions like Africa and the Middle East also see a rapid surge in viewership.

At present, contemporary idol dramas and historical series still lead in the international distribution of Chinese dramas. Meanwhile, suspense dramas and office-themed series have also performed well overseas.

Technologies are also widely employed by Chinese producers to appeal to overseas audiences. For instance, Youku International has been using artificial intelligence to provide subtitles and dubbing for series in the Southeast Asian market, with particularly positive results for Thai and Vietnamese content.

On the production side, there are also creative attempts in local collaboration, aiming to integrate Chinese IP more naturally into foreign cultural contexts.

For example, the popular Shanghai-produced urban drama "Nothing But Thirty" has a Thai adaptation, "The Thirsty Thirty." Featuring local Thai actors, it presents an entirely new storyline that adapts the core theme of the original Chinese drama – women breaking free from age-related constraints and pursuing self-worth – into Thailand's social context, and cultural nuances.