The 2nd Microshort Drama Conference was held during November 5-7 in Linping District of Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, gathering experts, industry leaders and enterprise representatives to sketch new path for the sustainable and high-quality development of the micro drama industry.

With artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly iterating, emotional resonance remains the core essence of good micro dramas, according to Luo Jianhui, vice president with China Netcasting Services Association (CNSA), noting that as a newly emerging online audiovisual product, micro dramas have quickly moved from "wild growth" towards quality development.

The industry is now embracing exciting new changes, Luo said, elaborating that the in-depth development of the "micro drama+" empowers various business formats to innovate and upgrade. High-quality micro dramas have also become a new force for communicating Chinese culture to the global audience, Luo noted.

The micro drama industry has upgraded to 2.0 version that features quality development, strong grassroots reach, and digital economy innovations, according to an industry white paper released by the CNSA during the event.

The event also witnessed the launch of an index on micro drama dissemination and application evaluation by China Federation of Radio and Television Associations (CFRTA) to further guide micro drama creation and promote theme innovation.

Zhejiang's micro drama industry could achieve higher-quality development by exploring grand subjects through small angles, cultivating big industries through small productions, and developing cultural tourism+ industries through small lens, according to Chen Guangsheng, head of Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism.

It is learned that Linping District has been refining its complete industry chain that covers writing, filming, broadcasting, investment and evaluation for micro drama production to build itself into a national micro drama base.

Next, Linping will focus more on industry clustering, enterprise cultivating, brand building and provide full-cycle support to make Linping a desirable and ideal place for cultural and audiovisual enterprises to settle and develop, according to Zhou Xuyin, head of the Linping District.

The event also launched a Grand Canal themed micro drama creation plan, as this year marks the 10th anniversary of the ancient artificial waterway successfully being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is also the third year of the establishment of the China Grand Canal Ancient Town Development Alliance initiated by Linping.