While the short film market is expanding, the trend of AI short films is also rising in China. According to DataEye estimates, the scale of the AI short film market in 2025 has exceeded the 12 billion CNY mark, growing by more than 300% compared to the same period. Last year, there were 37 AI short films simulating real people that reached more than 10 million views.
Compared to traditional short films with real actors, short films produced by AI help reduce 50% of investment costs and 1/3 of time.
In early 2026, the AI short film "Hoac Khu Benh" became a phenomenon when it attracted more than 500 million views. This film has a shocking budget, only 3,000 CNY (about 11 million VND), with a crew of 3 people and producing 80 episodes in 5 days.
This has become a major challenge for the rapidly growing short film industry in China.
Short films become a mainstream form of entertainment
The Chinese short film market has achieved double growth in the number of films released and the number of viewers. In 2025 alone, nearly 40,000 vertical short films were produced and released in the billion-population country.
The average monthly viewing time of users for short films is 26.09 hours - second after short videos, among popular content-consuming applications.
The "China Internet Development Report 2025" shows that the number of short film users in China reached 662 million people.
Lunar New Year 2026, short films continue to witness a strong explosion.
According to data provided by QuestMobile, there are more than 1,000 short films simultaneously released in China during the 9-day Tet holiday.
The Hongguo short film platform (Hong Qua) reached a total of 33.6 billion views during the Tet movie season.
Typically, 4 short films recorded achievements of over 1 billion views and over 100 million heat points, including "The 18-year-old aunt returns, reviving family glory 4"; "Day after night"; "Joining books to become rich sisters-in-law, my best friend and I go to battle" and "Broken, joining best friends to cross books, destroying villain roles".
This year, besides traditional Tet entertainment forms such as cinema, variety shows or gala nights, short films have become one of the main content consumption choices of Chinese audiences. Watching short films has gradually developed into a "new entertainment custom" of many families.
Improving production quality and diversity
In addition to attracting audiences thanks to diverse and attractive topics, the short films released during this Tet season also show the trend of IP development and upgrading production quality.
Short films are no longer simply aimed at creating a feeling of "euphoria" for viewers, but gradually become a means of conveying the progressive values of the times.
Previously, short films often revolved around 4 familiar motifs: being a son-in-law, system, time travel, revenge.
According to screenwriter Hai Ham, the short film is not based on real-life logic, but focuses on liberating emotions immediately and effectively, helping the audience empathize and compensate for psychology during the short entertainment time.
Therefore, topics such as "badass president" or "rebirth revenge" are often used in short films to stimulate viewers.
But now, a new generation of creators is trying to tell stories closer to life.
In "The 18th Aunt Returns" part 4, the elderly female lead is reborn to her youth, before the family declines. Using the intelligence of her ancestors and modern thinking, she leads her children and grandchildren to challenge fate.
Family love stories built in the previous 3 seasons reach their peak this season; with family love, power struggle and reconciliation between generations revealed in layers. The film breaks the boundaries of age and gender in storytelling, while elevating the content with family spirit.
From quick and simple entertainment products, short films have switched to professional production processes, making overall quality significantly improved.
The development of IP (romans/comics) into short film series, systematic production and increasingly high aesthetics, has become the core thinking throughout this year's Tet short film season.
