Chinese online literature has developed over the past two decades into a lucrative industry boasting over 460 million readers. As its name suggests, online literature refers to original literary works of varied length released online and usually published in installments.

A forum about online literature and movie adaptation was held in Sanya on Sunday during the ongoing third Hainan Island International Film Festival(HIIFF). Many writers and editors in the online literature field attended the forum.

Online literary works in China are serialized on certain platforms such as websites and mobile apps, where readers can access the first few chapters for free and have to pay for the rest. Popular works may have the chance to be published and even adapted into films or TV dramas.

A handful of popular Chinese TV series in recent years were inspired by online fiction work.

Anti-corruption crime thriller "In the Name of People," historical drama "Empresses in the Palace" and urban drama "Ode to Joy" are all adaptations of popular novels first released online. The hit show "Ode to Joy" racked up 22 billion viewers when the series was released online. "Better Days," one of the most popular Chinese films in 2019, was also adapted from an online novel.

"Online literature and movie scripts adaptions are a pair of friends who help each other to develop. To create an online novel, you just need a computer. You don't need to invest a lot of money. If the story is popular, it'll have the chance to be put on the big screen. And in this way, the movie industry can always find good stories published online," Liu Xudong, President of jjwxc.net – one of the most popular online literature forums in China – said at the forum.

Chinese online novels have also won overseas internet users who read the translated works. Chinese online literature now has nearly 32 million readers overseas as of September, according to a report published by iResearch. Its market is valued at 4.6 billion yuan (70 million U.S. dollars) overseas.

The third Hainan Island International Film Festival(HIIFF) will end on December 12.