Shanghai TV Market Launches Dual-Venue Format to Boost Chinese Exports

The Shanghai International Film & TV Market is introducing a new dual-venue format at the Shanghai Exhibition Center this year. The event will feature distinct areas for international company pavilions and a specific arena designed to connect Chinese content sellers with buyers from key markets like the U.K., France, Brazil, and Canada.

The international pavilion will host institutions from countries such as Thailand, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Brazil, and Spain. The focus will be on foreign production showcases and promoting locations in Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Chinese promotion venue will facilitate matchmaking sessions categorized into films, drama series, and microdramas. These will be complemented by international industry salons and cultural tourism route promotions.

Chen Guo, the managing director of Shanghai International Film & TV Events Center, emphasizes that this year’s TV forum will focus on promoting global content deals. “This themed forum will bring together decision-makers from major global platforms for in-depth dialogues on the latest market trends, core purchasing needs, and diverse collaboration opportunities,” she tells Variety. “Together, they will explore new paths and possibilities for Chinese stories, including microdramas, to ‘go global.’”

This year, the market is also launching an official awards category for microdramas. These awards will recognize exceptional short-form productions based on value orientation, narrative and creativity, production and audiovisual quality, and distribution and reputation. Chen explains that the awards are intended to address variations in production quality across the sector. “We aim to discover and commend outstanding microdramas that possess ideological depth, artistic warmth, and contemporary features,” she says. “The introduction of this honor aims to leverage the exemplary and guiding role of the Magnolia Awards to steer the industry toward premium production.”

According to Chen, the broader market is experiencing a rebound cycle after a period of inventory consolidation. AI tools are attracting younger creators and enhancing storytelling quality. “The audience never stops pursuing high-quality content,” she says. “Although the industry has evolved rapidly over recent years, the changes have primarily occurred in the forms of expression: between horizontal and vertical screens, long or short content, traditional TV broadcasting versus online streaming, all among others.”

Overseas guests made up 12% of total market attendees last year, with creative personnel being the largest professional category at 35.54%. Chen states that the market’s primary goal this year is not limited to facilitating single-project transactions. “We aim not only to facilitate single-project transactions but also to encourage Chinese and foreign institutions to sign annual strategic partnerships, long-term slate purchasing deals, and joint-development framework agreements,” she says.

The Shanghai International Film & TV Market is held in conjunction with the Shanghai International Film Festival.