Chinese MZ Also Deeply Into K-Webtoons... Exports Increasing

StoryWiz exports 6 titles to top platform Kuaikan
Chinese webtoon market with major customers under 25
Kakao's 'Nahongrep' ranked overall 1st in May last year

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] In the Chinese webtoon market, where domestic works have traditionally been prioritized, Korean webtoons are expanding their presence thanks to the enthusiastic response from China's MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z).

According to industry sources on the 16th, StoryWiz, a content-specialized company focusing on webtoons and web novels, recently signed distribution contracts for six new webtoon titles, including "The Princess Blooms Like a Mad Flower" and "There Is No Good Sister," scheduled to be released in the second quarter of this year on China's top two webtoon platforms, Kuaikan Manhua and Bilibili. This marks the first export achievement with self-produced works since its spin-off from KT.

The most aggressive player in China is Kakao Entertainment. Kakao Entertainment's flagship work is the popular domestic webtoon "Solo Leveling," based on the web novel of the same name, which ranked first overall on Kuaikan in May last year. Other Korean webtoon specialists such as Lezhin Comics and Daewon Media are also steadily supplying their works. Due to strong restrictions on foreign content by Chinese authorities, including the Hanhanryeong (Korean content ban), direct platform entry is difficult, leading companies to shift towards indirect entry strategies.

The Chinese webtoon market, centered on paid services, is rapidly growing mainly among the domestic MZ generation customers. As of 2021, Kuaikan had over 340 million registered users and about 50 million monthly active users. The main customer age group is also young, under 25 years old. Trends in works between China and Korea are similar. Among Korean works on Kuaikan, top-ranking titles include popular works such as "Solo Leveling" (fantasy martial arts), "Suddenly Became a Princess One Day" (romance), and "Leveling Up with the Gods" (modern fantasy), all of which are popular in Korea's major rankings.

Domestic companies aiming for global expansion are also paying attention to the Chinese webtoon market. One Store, a domestic application market operator, made a 40 billion KRW equity investment in Kuaikan last year along with Tencent and others for mutual content exchange purposes, reflecting this trend.

With the continued approval of Korean drama broadcasts in China, expectations for the end of the Hanhanryeong are rising. An industry insider in the webtoon sector said, "Although contract prices vary greatly depending on the work, the contract prices for Chinese-bound works are steadily increasing," adding, "We expect a positive atmosphere to continue as the mood for lifting the Hanhanryeong is forming."