When a government wants to launch a campaign, such as encouraging you to stop smoking or not use your cell phone while driving, it’s normal to get physical posters or advertisements. Once only on radio or TV, but now you can also find them on social networks. problem? I don’t know about you, but any type of advertisement I see, my eyes are trained to avoid it. So in China they’ve gone a step further beyond advertising: they’ve created their own microdrama, a format that’s causing a stir in the country.
Long live microdrama. The Chinese state has turned microdrama into a channel of public communication. Thus, in January 2025 the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) launched its “Microdramas+” plan, which brings the format to the most diverse sectors, from tourism or law to science, sports or intangible heritage. And this April it released its first list for 2026 with 116 recommended titles: 50 about tourism, 22 about learning law, 8 promoting sports or 7 promoting science, as Sina said.
And from September 1, the sector has its own ministerial standard, which defines the format as a series of episodes each less than twenty minutes long, with a clear theme and a defined main plot, a continuous and complete story and prominent characters. A curiosity: Just as the EU requires deepfakes to be flagged and AI flagged content, AI-produced microdramas in China must carry a visible warning in each episode.
They already have viral videos. This short dramatic format with experiences that can be real is interesting and the Asian giant’s government has already achieved some viewing success, such as “Mr. Bao, it’s 2025!”, a legal propaganda series on new types of scams in networks and telecommunications. Released during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday, it has surpassed 210 million views on the Quaisho platform, as detailed on the official website of the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China.
Where the audience goes, the government goes. For a campaign to work, many things are needed, but the first is to go where the audience is, and the Chinese government has done just that: according to a research report on “China’s Online Audiovisual Development (2025)” compiled by Beijing News, 59.7% of Chinese Internet users are regular viewers of microdramas.
And that’s without talking about the change of register: going from posters, discussions or notes to a narrative with conflict, emotions and algorithms. Of course, money is also needed: this May NRTA presented a plan to promote a thousand microdramas in 2026, and six major platforms have committed to invest at least 6 billion yuan, about 800 million euros, in productions with real actors. Moreover, the progress is not only in the level of awareness, but the industry also gains support and screen time through these outstanding productions.
The other side of the coinThe model is refined by theme: NRTA proposed 100 tourism microdramas in early 2024, in August of that year it jumped to learning law in cooperation with the Supreme People’s Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme People’s Court and the Ministry of Public Security, in early 2025 these planlines were developed into Tagumdramas in Tegromas. Six priority directions including science. Addiction to screens and social networks is a reality, but it also provides a very usable format for getting messages across
This awareness needs more control through channels and fashion formats. Thus, with Suzhou Health Promotion, the accounts of those health professionals who are dedicated to the promotion are controlled, including approval, registration and review. However, on a national scale, health carries very little weight and there are others in the “special” category who have more control, such as politics, diplomacy, national security, justice or public safety.
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