Content Is King: Chinese productions join Asian pop culture wave

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In this digital age, content is king. While the West has long dominated the market in areas of pop culture, Asia is now catching up. More Asian roles in films and TV shows are escaping stereotyped personas and token representations. Chinese content has also beamed itself into the Southeast Asian market. CGTN's Miro Lu has more.

A lot of Singaporeans are obsessed with this Chinese television drama. Some fans even lose sleep over it, staying up late to binge-watch dozens of episodes in one night.

Story of Yanxi Palace took China by storm in 2018. Since August, it has attracted over 13 billion views. The show is now available in more than 70 markets globally, becoming one of the biggest Asian television hits of the year.

Radio DJ Xie Jiafa is a huge fan of the Story of Yanxi Palace. He says there has been a rise in demand for Chinese content. Besides the TV show, Chinese pop music has also gained favour in Singapore.

XIE JIAFA RADIO DJ "I'm a DJ, I listen to Chinese songs and we introduce Chinese drama on air as well. So you can see that listeners are more open to this type of content. Let's say if it's 15 years ago, I think Singaporeans will have a lesser tendency to accept songs from China or dramas from China."

On the whole, Asian content, including from China, India, and South Korea, among others, has amassed a solid international audience base.

The wrestle for audience has intensified for on-demand video streaming services. Netflix has been stepping up original Asian content, as the US firm seeks to attract new international users through more local stories.

Chen Xiao, the vice president of iQiyi, the "Netflix of China", said that Asian content is increasingly able to hold its own on the global stage. He was speaking at the annual Singapore Media Festival.

CHEN XIAO VICE PRESIDENT, IQIYI "I think Asian content is more family-based, and they're trying to be more international, but still they have their own culture. Very obvious culture. As (I see it, over the past) five years, more and more content are trying to be more international, and now they're focusing more on young people. Young people are global naturally."

MIRO LU SINGAPORE "The media festival is an annual gathering of filmmakers, movie-lovers, content producers and buyers from around the world. The Singapore International Film Festival, which puts a spotlight on Asian films, also runs parallel to the event."

The week-long event offers Asian content a chance to gain more international traction. The chairman of the festival said he's seen an increase in sales of Asian content over the past five years and the global focus on Asia is unmistakable.

ROBERT GILBY CHAIRMAN, SINGAPORE MEDIA FESTIVAL "We've had global platforms like Netflix picking up shows like Sacred Games from India. And we've seen the emergence of amazing platforms in China like iQiyi, and Yanxi Palace, which was a huge budget and a huge audience. These kinda shows are reaching a whole new level and have a genuine global appeal."

While the rise in demand for Asian content has put a dent in the market monopoly once held by the West, the biggest hope for regional content creators is that Asian stories are starting to break borders. Miro Lu, CGTN, Singapore.