China tells, the world watches

This new wave of influence is not the first: from the “chinoiserie” of the 18th century (porcelain, lacquer, pagodas) to the vogue for tea, and later the boom of martial arts and Hong Kong cinema (Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan), China has often shaped the Western imagination; duanju is today’s mobile incarnation of that tradition.

Duanju is emerging as a key laboratory for mobile storytelling and fiction, at the heart of a Chinese strategy where culture, platforms, and public policy advance in unison. Internationally, duanju apps surpassed 370 million downloads in the first quarter of 2025, according to Sensor Tower.

A format calibrated for export

Duanju has become a genuine export industry. Industry reports highlight the rise of duanju platforms in the American, Asian, and Latin American markets, with revenues growing strongly in the United States.

Douyin, the Chinese TikTok

It is impossible to talk about duanju without mentioning TikTok. The app, ByteDance’s global showcase, plays a key role in the spread of short-form content. But its domestic version, Douyin, follows a different logic. In China, the platform integrates mini-programs and shops that allow users to watch a series, purchase a product featured in an episode, subscribe, or join a duanju app without leaving the platform. ByteDance, the parent company of Douyin and TikTok, even offers a turnkey solution to host, review, distribute, and monetize short dramas directly within Douyin. This seamless integration turns each episode into a transactional entry point, accelerating their professionalization.

TikTok, a more open but less integrated model

Internationally, TikTok remains powerful for discovery, but outbound links are more restricted. The launch of TikTok Shop in the United States in September 2023, and later in Europe (France, Germany, Italy) in March 2025, marks a shift toward an integration closer to the Douyin model and paves the way for the export of duanju. Despite this, creators often have to rely on the bio link or hold a Business account to add direct links. This difference highlights two approaches: in China, duanju benefits from full integration between content and transaction, while abroad the user journey remains fragmented and more costly for producers. And while this model can be restrictive for creators, it remains highly profitable for ByteDance.

Local cultural adaptation

One of the major levers of duanju lies in localization. Studios modify characters, settings, and narrative themes to align with the sensibilities of local audiences and regulators. Netflix is also experimenting with these adaptation strategies, adjusting the tone and cultural references for each market. Pilots serve as tests, and only stories that resonate with their audience are then rolled out on a large scale.

Chinese soft power

For international observers, the rise of duanju illustrates a soft power strategy combining narratives, infrastructure, and commerce. The goal: to shape imaginaries compatible with Chinese interests while asserting its technological and cultural capabilities. In China, the distribution of duanju is regulated: sensitive content is filtered, duration is limited, and catalogs are regularly monitored by the authorities.

What this changes for Europe

For European creators and producers, the rise of duanju implies three developments. A new storytelling market that imposes fast and efficient narrative codes. A technical standard where viewing, payment, and commerce are combined in the same user journey. A competition of models, where the advantage will depend on the adaptation of local works to the vertical format, the direct link between episodes and transactions, and mastery of regulatory frameworks.

Sources:

• CSIS – ChinaPower, February 27, 2016

• Council on Foreign Relations, February 9, 2018

• National Endowment for Democracy, June 19, 2017

• USC Center on Public Diplomacy, October 1, 2018

• Les Échos, May 7, 2024

• GEO, August 15, 2025

• Sensor Tower, July 16, 2025

•流媒体网 (LMTW), August 28, 2025