Short dramas are the vertical, two-minute-an-episode soap operas that half of China seems to watch on the train. Until now WeChat has mostly been the place where people find them, rather than the place that makes money from them. That looks about to change.
Tencent has launched a free short-drama Mini Program called Lüpaopao, which most English-language outlets render as "Green Bubble" (a nod to the WeChat logo). TechNode reported it on 14 October, citing Beijing Daily from the day before. 36Kr's write-up says it replaces the earlier "Short Drama" Mini Program WeChat launched in 2025. Reports differ on exactly when it went live, with 36Kr saying September and others describing a quiet October launch, so we wouldn't quote a date.
What it is
Everything is free to watch. The money comes from ads placed between episodes, paid for by advertisers rather than viewers. Content is a mix of live-action, animated and AI-generated series, and the app has a browse section, a vertical scrolling feed, charts, and recommendations based on what your friends and people nearby are watching. It is a Mini Program, so there is nothing to download.
That social angle is the interesting bit. ByteDance's Hongguo, the current leader in free short dramas, reportedly sits at around 168 million daily users as of July. Hongguo has to bribe people to stay with coins and daily check-ins. Tencent is betting that WeChat's social graph does that job instead.
The creator incentive
The second half of the story is the money for producers. 36Kr and BigGo both describe a Q4 incentive scheme running from 16 October to 31 December. Under it, newly released series that hold viewers for longest can reportedly earn a revenue share of up to 100%, split as 90% cash and 10% advertising credit. 36Kr lists a basic tier of 85%, and 50% for series that miss the watch-time bar. Terms after 31 December are unknown.
The key change is the yardstick. Payment is tied to average watch time per viewer, not raw play counts. BigGo also passes on early figures, reportedly about five times the platform-average watch time and 2.5 times the retention, but that is a single-source number and we'd treat it as marketing until someone independent confirms it. 36Kr also notes that nine of the top ten series on WeChat's short-drama chart are AI-generated, which says a lot about where the cheap supply is coming from.
What it means for overseas businesses
Be realistic: this is not a tool for most of our clients. You aren't going to make a drama series for a Sydney skincare brand next week.
But there are two angles worth watching. First, ad inventory. Ads between episodes in a WeChat-owned Mini Program is a new placement, and WeChat has historically been good at packaging this kind of thing into its existing ad system. We don't yet know whether it will be bought through the standard channels, how it will be priced, or whether foreign advertisers will get access at all, so please don't read this as an available product.
Second, content tie-ins. Brand-integrated short dramas already exist on Douyin and Channels. If WeChat starts pushing watch time in a place where your target audience is already spending an evening, product placement in a short series could become a sensible, cheaper test than a celebrity campaign.
Our honest take: the format is proven, the distribution is real, and Tencent has failed at this before (36Kr counts several earlier attempts), so it isn't guaranteed to stick. Watch how the incentive scheme changes after December before building any plan around it.
If you'd like to know how your brand could show up in WeChat video and ad placements today, get in touch, or read about our WeChat advertising services.
Sources: TechNode, 14 October 2026 (citing Beijing Daily); 36Kr; BigGo Finance. The early engagement figures rest on the BigGo report alone.