China’s US$1.2 trillion goods trade surplus last year has focused attention on electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and industrial overcapacity. Tariffs, anti-subsidy investigations and localisation requirements have followed as trading partners respond to China’s manufacturing scale.
Yet the less visible shift is happening in services. Services exports rose by 17.1 per cent year on year in the first seven months of 2026, while exports of personal cultural and entertainment services surged by 57.8 per cent. China still runs a trade deficit in services, which are nowhere close to replacing manufacturing. But digital services can scale up globally without factories, containers or ports.
Microdramas generated by artificial intelligence (AI) offer an early example. China industrialised the format domestically: one-to-three-minute episodes, rapid plot twists and cliffhangers designed around smartphone viewing and payment. The sector’s revenue rose from less than 1 billion yuan in 2020 to an estimated 100 billion yuan (US$14.91 billion) last year. Chinese-backed platforms such as ReelShort already have sizeable overseas audiences.