Why India is falling for C-dramas

Chinese dramas are inching ahead of stereotypical K-dramas with its flawed leads, empowered women, lived-in cities and everyday lives. And its fans are growing, everywhere

Updated - October 18, 2026 09:56 am IST

A still from C-drama Pursuit of Jade

Move over, McKinsey & Company. Maxmise is here to take over — at least in the world of online streaming. Maxmise is a fictitious consulting firm where Xu Chi (played by Zhao Jinmai), the star character of Irreplaceable, a new Chinese drama on Netflix, works.

The drama debuted in the top 10 shows on Netflix for India in late September and catalogues the cut-throat life of a management consultant in a way that makes actors George Clooney and Anna Kendrick’s shenanigans in Up in the Air seem like a walk in the park.

The two leads of Irreplaceable

If, like me, you watch Asian dramas, you could not have missed the rise of the newish kid on the block, Chinese dramas or C-dramas, in the last year or so. Back in 2024, a study published in the journal Television & New Media by Anubha Sarkar of City, University of London and Xiao Yang of the University of Melbourne found that China’s streaming platforms “prioritize regions with cultural proximity, such as Southeast Asia, over Western audiences… China’s regulations enable local platforms like iQIYI to thrive, resisting Western platform dominance. These platforms also distribute C-dramas overseas, focusing on the Chinese diaspora”.

That scenario seems to be changing, with more and more international audiences becoming interested in C-dramas streaming on platforms such as Netflix and Rakuten Viki. While there seem to be meagre reviews of these shows in Western media, the numbers tell a story of their own: according to Netflix’s companion website Tudum, The Early Spring, a C-drama released at the end of August, stayed in the top 10 global list of non-English shows for four weeks straight and garnered up to 3.5 million views.

A still from The Early Spring

India is no different. The show was at no. 4 in the non-English India top 10 list. “I have been watching Korean dramas since a little before the pandemic, but in the last couple of years, I have actually watched more C-dramas than K-dramas,” says Mehul Sharma, a final-year law student. “[The more you watch] you pick up on the glorification [of the country], but the storytelling has been getting strong.”

Mehul Sharma watches more C-dramas than K-dramas now

Chinese storytellers and directors have perhaps studied the Hallyu wave, the global rise of Korean pop culture and lifestyle that began in the last 1990s, and decided to create their own version of it. Make no mistake though: the Chinese playbook is not a copy of the Korean one. Korea exported a lifestyle. You watch a K-drama and want the ramyeon, the skincare, the aesthetic of Seoul and the K-pop idols. The show is a shop window, and the state built an export industry behind it.

“I got introduced to C-dramas at a Comic Con and then a Reddit forum a few years ago. The storytelling, plots, and relationships are very different from what I have explored in Western books or other media. Many C-dramas are based on Chinese novels, webtoons or manhua [comics]. For example, ‘The Prisoner of Beauty’ was based on a 2016 web novel ‘Zhe Yao’ [by Penglai Ke]. I am actually getting into reading the authors whose works have been dramatised.”Shweta TanejaA science and speculative fiction author who likes to watch wuxia drama

Meanwhile, China’s entertainment industry is selling something less portable. They are showcasing their edge in technology, their modern cities and lesser-known tourist spots and, of course, their professionalism. They are also bringing their festivals into your living room along with the hotpots, love for all things feline, traditional architecture and medicine. “The difference is that China has a much broader cultural canvas to work with. With Koreans, it was kind of a package of K-pop and beauty products,” explains Aparna Divya, a Ph.D candidate at School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University in China, specialising in international politics. “China can do all of that, and also draw on this huge historical and civilisational tradition. It is in a different position from Korea because it is already globally visible as an economic and political power. So, the cultural wave is somewhat an extension now.”

Whether it was The Early Spring (2026), Pursuit of Jade (2026), Shine on Me (2025), Love Between Lines (2026) or The Prisoner of Beauty (2025), Chinese dramas across genres are slowly inching ahead of the Korean shows on international streaming platforms. “K-dramas have fallen deeply into a template format. They are not moving beyond stereotypes,” says Puja Talwar, former entertainment editor at NDTV and a writer who specialises in Korean pop culture. “We all know that in a K-drama nowadays, the childhood connection will emerge, or amnesia or trauma from bullying will show up. The kiss will happen in the sixth episode, the break-up in the ninth or tenth and then all will be well in the twelfth or sixteenth episode, depending on the length of the show. What was fresh a few years back is now a sanitised package tailored to Western audiences’ expectations.”