China’s booming short film industry is facing stricter supervision after reports emerged that Hongguo Short Drama, the country’s largest short film platform, will ban three major themes and impose tougher restrictions on 13 content categories.
According to Sina, the new measures aim to regulate content creation and distribution, while promoting a healthier industrial environment. The three topics reportedly completely banned include:
- Content related to superstition and the occult
- Sensitive themes of popular religion
- Stories involving human trafficking, kidnappings and crime syndicates in northern Myanmar
Additionally, 13 content categories will undergo more rigorous review. These include supernatural abilities, excessively violent revenge plots, dangerous props, content that insults human dignity, invasions of privacy, organized crime plots, wealthy family feuds involving murder-for-hire plots, and excessive displays of wealth. The regulations are also expected to affect popular “CEO dramas,” which often feature forced relationships, drug-related incidents, unrealistic power dynamics and wealthy protagonists who appear capable of controlling entire industries.
Family-themed dramas will face limitations on plots involving psychological manipulation, extramarital affairs, glorification of lovers, domestic violence, miscarriages and exaggerated conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.
Historical dramas will be prohibited from distorting historical facts, while productions featuring child actors will not be able to include plots involving child trafficking, abandonment or the use of children to coerce parents. Restrictions on scenes depicting smoking, excessive drinking, foul language and graphic violence are also expected to be tightened.
The move follows a broader campaign launched on June 1 by the China National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), which aims to eliminate vulgar, harmful and copyright-infringing content, as well as narratives that promote materialism, problematic marital values and feudal thinking.
According to data released by Hongguo Short Drama, as of April 2026, the platform had removed 369 live-action short dramas and more than 12,000 comedy productions that violated its content guidelines.
The crackdown comes despite the sector’s explosive growth. Data Eye reported that China’s short drama market reached 90 billion yuan ($12.5 billion) in 2025, up 78% from the previous year, while total viewing during the 2026 Lunar New Year holiday reached 8.7 billion.
While regulators say the measures are designed to improve the quality of content, many industry observers believe the new rules could have a significant impact on production, as a large number of short drama scripts are based on themes that are now subject to stricter scrutiny.
Sources: TP
