China’s micro-drama craze turns idle real estate projects into lavish film sets

In Xingyang, Henan province, a long-stalled project by Evergrande – the world’s most indebted real estate developer – lays bare two sharply contrasting realities.

On social media, frustrated buyers who paid for their long-promised flats years ago plead for updates on their unfinished homes. Meanwhile, the project’s lavish sales hall has found a new lease of life: under its glittering chandeliers, production crews shoot family feuds and love triangles for China’s booming micro-drama industry.

The on-screen opulence stands in stark opposition to the idle construction outside, a scene playing out across China. As the micro-drama craze sweeps the country, stalled commercial and residential properties are being repurposed into film sets.

Over the past couple of years, the micro-drama industry has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country’s entertainment market. According to the China Television Drama Production Industry Association (CTDPIA), its market size exceeded 50.5 billion yuan (US$7.1 billion) in 2024, with projections of 63.43 billion yuan in 2025, potentially reaching 85.6 billion yuan by 2027.

In 2024, the audience for micro-dramas surpassed 660 million people nationwide, spanning tier-one cities to smaller towns – and, for the first time, overtaking national box office revenue.

Urban romance dramas set in luxurious office buildings and flats have proven especially popular. This has generated new demand for high-end shooting locations, at a time when stricter regulations and cash flow shortages have triggered widespread delays to projects.

South China Morning Post