Amid the shadow of the success of the blockbuster “NE Zha 2”, a quiet revolution is reshaping the leisure panorama of China.
The focus of considerations is to increasingly surpass the native champions of Western films through cultural pleasure and technological developments, and another powerful force drives this transition: net novels and their terrible profitable authors. Traditionally, the most iconic works of cinemas, ranging from classic works such as “Waste Wind” to franchises similar to “Harry Potter”, originated from traditional publishing. However, China’s digital priority strategy rewrites the script, and companies like Yuewen Group reprocess what international leisure forces are among the content materials of interest.
“The solid rhythm of online literature, imaginative thoughts and shared emotional core make it perfect for film and television adaptations,” explained Hou Xiaonan, CEO and president of Yuewen. “Digital communication volume. Among the 2024 Chinese TV Show Audience Rankings, the three highest exhibitions are tailored to online literature: “Life 2”, “The Legend of Shenli” and “Double”.
In response to Hou, for the three largest streaming media platforms in China that are coming in 2025, net novel diversification will account for more than 30% of the most recent sequences. Among these digital literature stars, there is almost no light that is more than Mo Guo, the creator of the “King of Mysteries”. The sequence, together with its audiobook model, collected over 1.45 billion views, and creators amassed over 39 million followers worldwide. Currently, the animation sequence customized for summer time has exceeded 830,000 pre-registration for Tencent Video.
“I think I need expressions of what is probably the most basic and common human feelings,” said Cuttlefish when asking for a theme that works internationally. “Family feelings, friendship, love, compassion for depression, perseverance to uphold justice and resistance to oppressors are key to international resonance.”
The global impression is simple. “King of Mystery” holds a novel subscription report worldwide, and has more than 50 million views of WebNovel in Outdoor China alone. It has spawned a spontaneous fan community, with its core FB group having more than 20,000 members and maintaining 4.8 of the five rankings.
In the past British market, the novel has been translated into French, Korean, Japanese and Thai and has been printed in Russian. In November 2024, the British Library added it to a variety of contents and arranged an IP-themed exhibition.
JKS Comics is a former music coach at U.Okay, representing another success story. His “My Vampire System” has received over 400 million views and purchased 15 million copies. The work received the 2022 WebNovel Spirituality Awards and has been tailored to an audiobook with 243 million performances, and is currently in a comic adaptation.
JKS Comics recalled at the third Shanghai Literature Week in December 2024: “Two weeks before WSA, I quit my education location.” After making a profit, my work was widely unfolding and its reputation continued to rise. ”
The expansion of net new diversification has produced a benign cycle. “When these novels are tailored, our improved alternatives are already higher,” explains JKS Comics. “I observed not long ago that more and more works are tailored to audiobooks, comics and even brief dramas. These diversity attracts many new audiences who don't even know that these works were originally tailored to online novels.”
Behind these international successes is another fundamental aspect: translators who bridge cultural gaps. Cktalon is a Singaporean with a diploma in physics, engaged in scientific analysis and engineering, and he played a role in translating the “King of Mysteries”. Cktalon has created a dedicated phrase database that now has more than 1,000 entries. His meticulous strategy involves researching educational papers to understand the advanced meanings of traditional Chinese thought.
“A e-book that may be translated within 12 months may find itself three years,” Cktalon notes, noting that the challenge of maintaining high quality across a completely different translator. His work reflects how skilled translation infrastructure can help the growth of Chinese net novels around the world. Yuewen's technical facilities in net novels are due to the improvement of the cornerstone of the overall IP.
By establishing every internal improvement as well as partnership with trade leaders, profitable engineering departments are used for publishing, audiobooks, animations, movies, games and merchandise. Global growth is organized. Yuewen has established partnerships with Naver, Kakao, Disney+, Netflix and Wetv with 75 global publishers and platforms. By November 2024, their global platform WebNovel has brought together 680,000 unique foreign net novels from 449,000 global authors.
Famous success embraced Paperboy, and his online novel “The Guardian of Daphne” was tailored to a successful TV series including Dylan Wang. The creator has accumulated over 42 million followers worldwide, while drama ranks highest on the entire platform in North America, Singapore and Taiwan. The sequence reflects how the Net Novels generate a multimedia franchise. The audiobook of “Daven Guardian” has been released on Ximalaya for more than 8.2 billion views. Its comedian adaptation has been bookmarked by over 700,000 clients, and Cellular Sport noted that pre-registered pre-registrations are more than 7 million ahead of the plays.
What makes these works resonate globally? The author continues to compare with common themes embedded in recent cultural contexts. “Detective Reasoning!” explains the Paper Boy when asking for a subject that goes beyond geographical location. Logical reasoning is not limited by tradition or domain. Furthermore, chasing criminals and punishing evil chivalrous spirits, while selling goods represents a universal value. ”
This mix of common themes and cultural specificity creates a unique barrier. As Heng Sao Tian Ya, creator of the “Paradise Road Library”, explained: “Its core is the Chinese idea, i.e. “Thoughts that respect lecturers and education,” but through an imaginary world and systemic environment, it has been reshaped into the theme of “information is energy” that can be understood by international readers.”
With adaptation successfully reintegrating unique content material creation, China's net novel ecosystem continues to develop. With traditional publishing fashion facing global disruption, this digital priority strategy for leisure franchise can effectively represent the future of China's current current media.
