China’s sci-fi industry rides a tech wave as revenues hit record high

China is seeing surging public interest in science fiction amid its push for technological development, with revenues reaching a record high and online search traffic more than tripling last year, according to a new report.

China’s sci-fi industry saw its gross revenues reach 126.1 billion yuan (US$18.2 billion) in 2025, up 15.7 per cent year on year, according to an annual report released at the China Science Fiction Convention on Friday, as reported by Xinhua.

The report also highlighted a 203.3 per cent year-on-year surge in sci-fi-related search traffic in China, as well as a continued expansion in the global reach of Chinese intellectual property.

The backbone of China’s sci-fi industry remains the video game sector, which accounted for more than 60 per cent of total revenues last year. Sci-fi games generated 77.91 billion yuan in revenue, with Chinese titles also performing strongly in overseas markets, according to the report.

“Overall, sci-fi games still account for the lion’s share of the market,” said Wu Yan, a science fiction writer and professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology, who helped compile previous editions of the annual report.

The younger generation has a particular preference for immersive and participatory forms of entertainment, according to Wu, and other media still cannot match video games in terms of either public interest or market scale.

The growing public enthusiasm for sci-fi comes amid China’s intensified focus on becoming a technology powerhouse, with Beijing making tech self-reliance a major focus of its latest five-year plan.

South China Morning Post