China Literature books RMB430m from short drama and says reading revenue shifted to it
The Hong Kong-listed publisher reported short-drama and AI-animated-drama revenue above RMB430m for the first half, up 230%, and attributed part of a 7.3% decline in its online reading business to a shift toward those formats.
What this basis means: Regulatory filing, government body, court or industry association.
China Literature reported interim results for the six months to 30 June 2026 on 11 August. Revenues from short dramas and AI-animated dramas exceeded RMB430m, about 27% of intellectual-property operations revenue, which itself rose 41.9% to RMB1,613.9m. Group revenue was RMB3,531.4m, up 10.7%. Profit attributable to shareholders was RMB135m.
The company reported that online business revenue fell 7.3% to RMB1,840.0m, attributing the decline in part to "a shift in content distribution from online reading to short dramas and AI-animated dramas on our self-operated products within the Weixin ecosystem." The company does not quantify how much of the decline is accounted for by that shift, and the two segments carry different economics.
The growth rate requires care in translation. The Chinese filing language reads 同比增长2.3倍, which the company's English release renders as "an increase of 2.3 times." Securities Times reported the same figure on 11 August as 230% growth to RMB430m, implying a prior-year base near RMB130m.
The company said it released more than 90 short dramas in the half and operates 起点剧场 domestically and ToonScroll internationally.
Companies China Literature, Tencent