ByteDance’s AI-enhanced short-drama app eclipses China’s Netflix rivals combined

TikTok parent ByteDance has scored another hit in China with Hongguo, an artificial intelligence-powered short-drama platform.

Launched in 2023, Hongguo quickly became a household name by riding China’s short-drama boom.

A surge in AI-generated content propelled it past some of the country’s biggest professional streaming platforms, while iterations of AI-animated dramas – using AI video models including ByteDance’s Seedance – gave it further lift.

Hongguo has overtaken the country’s four largest long-form video streaming apps including iQiyi – often dubbed China’s Netflix – in daily viewers as its free shows and expanding supply of AI-generated content transform competition in the online entertainment sector.

Hongguo’s daily active users (DAU) reached 168 million in July, more than double from a year earlier, according to mobile analytics service QuestMobile’s data cited in a research note by Japanese securities firm Nomura in August.