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The 2026 China Online Literature Forum was held on Thursday in East China's Anhui Province. The 2025 China Online Literature Blue Book released at the event shows that, by the end of 2025, Chinese online literature had exported more than 130,000 works to overseas markets. And China's platforms now have about 250 million registered users abroad, with 40 million new users added in 2025 alone. Active international readers cover more than 200 countries and regions worldwide.

According to platform statistics from WebNovel, Brazil ranked first among countries in user growth, with the US, India, France, and the UK also showing strong increases, as reported by the China News Service.

The Blue Book notes that, in 2025, the core trend for Chinese online literature was a remarkable improvement in quality. Different genres broke away from repetitive patterns, and innovative storytelling continued to deepen. Major genres such as realism, science fiction, and historical fantasy all showed a shift toward high-quality works. Meanwhile, Chinese online literature IPs have become deeply integrated into the global cultural industry. The term "C-Drama" (Chinese drama series) is now a hot topic overseas, with hit TV series adaptations such as The Legend of Shen Li and Love Between Fairy and Devil winning popularity abroad.

The Blue Book also reports that, by the end of 2025, the total number of Chinese online literary works exceeded 33 million, spread across about 50 major online literature platforms nationwide. Over 35 million registered authors have written for these platforms, serving a readership of 525 million. This makes online literature a mainstream form of art with massive public engagement.

Online literature has also become an important professional path for Generation Z. Young authors born after 2000 are leading the way in introducing new genres and narrative styles. However, this is not just a young person's game, as a growing number of the elderly are writing web novels, creating a new trend. Online literature has become a flexible way for elderly people to participate in society and find personal fulfillment, according to Dawan News.

Chinese online literature writer Shachongdui Duiyuan (lit: insecticide squad member) attended this year's forum and delivered a keynote speech after the opening ceremony. His work, Ten Day Ultimatum, is currently being adapted into a TV series and has attracted significant attention from readers and the market.

The writer observed that the global popularity of many Chinese web novels is often driven by dedicated readers themselves, who voluntarily translate and promote their favorite books.

"If the story is compelling, there will naturally be readers and fans eager to share it with a wider audience," he told the Global Times.

He said it is the strong storytelling and universal emotional themes in Chinese online literature that break through cultural boundaries and attract vast numbers of international readers. "Overseas readers are equally moved by the joys, struggles, and hopes of ordinary people," he said.

Andeez Ziauddin, a student from Bangladesh now studying at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Global Times her desire to study in Shanghai was partly inspired by the acclaimed local web writer Haizibang. The Chinese web novels she read as a child became her gateway to Chinese culture.

Ziauddin found herself especially attracted to stories filled with traditional Chinese culture, such as the philosophy of "going with the flow" or "my destiny is mine to shape, not Heaven's," which resonated deeply with her. The traditional elements and historical settings woven throughout these novels sparked her curiosity and often led her to research Chinese culture further.

"Exciting storylines, vivid characters, and imaginative world-building give online literature a powerful appeal and great adaptation potential. But more importantly, it connects with a wide range of real-life experiences, many of which are common across cultures. This is a key reason why Chinese online literature has found such a strong international audience," He Hong, director of the online literature center of the China Writers Association, said at the forum.

Zhang Peng, a cultural researcher and associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times that Chinese online literature has blended with multiple media forms, creating a wide range of global distribution channels. These include print rights sales, physical books, online reading platforms, and IP adaptations, offering overseas readers many different ways to enjoy Chinese web novels. As the scale of overseas reading continues to grow and the number of works being exported expands, Chinese online literature is becoming an important window for the world to understand modern China.