The Zhitong Finance App learned that China Aviation Securities released a research report stating that the stage and valuation position of the comprehensive industry are recommended layout priorities: content and IP > platform channels > AI tools and overseas travel. Content IP is the core gripper for long-term content revenue share. Platforms, AI tools, and overseas racetracks provide flexibility in traffic and performance. It is recommended to focus on three types of targets: first, content parties with reusable IP, AI production capacity, and the ability to participate in long dramas and theaters; second, long video platforms that have the ability to review and broadcast at the same time and have better repayment efficiency; and third, video models, AI production platforms, and overseas short drama distribution channels to seize opportunities for tool monetization and incremental overseas expansion.
The main views of China Aviation Securities are as follows:
Incidents
On August 31, “Journey to the West” “Huaguo Mountain” began broadcasting at 18:00 on both Mango TV and Hunan TV platforms. It was the first AIGC long drama to be broadcast on the domestic stage, and the first full-length drama in the “Side-review” mode; the production team was nearly 100 people, completed on the Mango Lingchuang AIGC platform; “Sanxingdui: The Future Past” was screened nationwide on October 23. The film is 100 minutes long. It is the first theatrical feature film produced in China using AI technology and obtained a screening license from the National Film Administration; HuaTse Film shows AIGC boutique project “500 Years of Disappearing” (“Journey to the West”) (First work in the series), the first domestic AI historical drama short drama “Ziji Guan”, has fully entered the production stage.
The supply side has entered “large-scale”, and AI has become the mainstream production paradigm
According to the “AI Drama Comic Data Report for the First Half of 2026” released by the industry research institute DataEye, the domestic AI drama comic market exceeded 22 billion yuan from January to May this year, and is expected to hit the 40 billion yuan mark for the whole year, a sharp increase of 138% over the previous year. The user side exploded simultaneously, and the number of domestic AI skit users surpassed 600 million in the first half of this year. According to data from the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, 430,000 short dramas will be launched nationwide in the first 8 months of 2026, equivalent to 13 times that of 2025, of which AI dramas account for more than 90%. At the same time as the supply curve is getting steeper, the quality threshold is rising — the platform has begun to clean up and support structure adjustments for low-quality content, and the industry is shifting from “competing for quantity” to “competing for quality”, which also means that production capacity that simply relies on low-cost distribution is being cleared.
Demand rises to establish a basic market, and user time supports payment conversion
According to the “Research Report on Internet Audiovisual Development in China (2026)”, the number of users of short dramas is growing rapidly, and the length of application usage time is on par with instant messaging. As of December of last year, the number of users of short dramas reached 662 million, and the usage rate reached 59.7%, an increase of 7.3 percentage points over the first half of the year. At the demand-side level, the continuous expansion of the user base and the steady increase in user usage time form a solid support for the basic content payment platform.
Implementation of the industry regulatory framework, from “special governance” to “institutionalization”
The “Administrative Measures on the Development of Short Dramas” (Order No. 16 of the State Administration of Radio and Television) consists of eight chapters and 54 articles, and will come into effect on September 1, 2026. The regulatory framework is clearly implemented, and precise hierarchical management is implemented: micro-dramas are divided into categories 1, 2, and 3 according to project investment amounts and subject types, and filing, publicity and distribution licenses are implemented in a differentiated manner; classification, filing and distribution licenses are implemented according to investment amounts and topics, and 11 untouchable red lines of content are prohibited from endangering national security, slandering outstanding traditional Chinese culture, and infringing on the legal rights and interests of minors; Special rules have been set for AI-generated and produced dramas, requiring AI-generated dramas to add reminders and signs in prominent places to each episode so that new technology can be identified and applied Traceable, protected At the same time as the bottom line of content, it adapts to the pace of technological iteration in the industry. In the long run, the policy environment is beneficial to leading short drama companies with the ability to improve compliance systems and stabilize the supply of quality content, and industry resources are expected to continue to be concentrated on high-quality leading players.
Risk warning: Risk of technology investment and implementation capacity falling short of expectations, increased risk of industry competition, risk of policy changes, risk of changes in the international environment.