At Malanshan Video Cultural and Creative Industrial Park in Changsha, Hunan province, a technological revolution is quietly transforming how Chinese cultural content reaches global audiences. Rows of screens display scripts translated into Arabic, Spanish, Thai, and French through advanced AI systems, while characters speak in flawless English despite originally performing in Mandarin just hours earlier.
The transformation stems from China’s first large-scale intelligent translation and production center for short dramas, launched in April 2025 at the Malanshan Audio and Video Laboratory. This cutting-edge facility integrates large language models, speech recognition, voice cloning, and synthesis technologies to automate translation, dubbing, and subtitle generation across multiple languages.
Laboratory director Tu Yongfeng highlights the dramatic efficiency gains: “Previously, manually translating a two-hour micro-drama required one to two weeks. Now the process completes within mere hours.” This technological leap has accelerated international distribution, with the laboratory already releasing over 3,000 works that have attracted tens of millions of overseas viewers while significantly reducing production costs.
These developments align with China’s broader national strategy to integrate culture and technology—a priority emphasized by President Xi Jinping during his 2020 inspection tour in Changsha. President Xi described culture as a “sunrise industry” and stressed that deep integration with technology drives rapid growth while creating substantial talent reservoirs deserving sustained support.
Dubbed “China’s V Valley,” the Malanshan park now hosts more than 4,000 culture and technology enterprises and over 64,000 professionals. From 2020 to 2024, companies in the park generated combined revenues of 277.1 billion yuan ($38.5 billion) with annual growth averaging over 11%.
The laboratory serves as the core engine driving this transformation, focusing on technologies across the entire audio-video chain from production and editing to transmission and display. Innovations include set-top boxes delivering 4K ultra-high-definition images from devices no larger than USB drives, and AI dual-lens livestreaming cameras that respond to hand gestures and simulate cinematic depth of field.
This technological advancement reflects national policy directions outlined during the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which called for exploring effective mechanisms to integrate culture with science and technology.
The integration extends beyond micro-dramas to major cultural institutions nationwide. The Palace Museum in Beijing has embraced digital transformation through its digital mini-program, allowing millions to explore the former imperial palace via panoramic tours and interactive exhibitions. Meanwhile, the Mogao Caves in Gansu province have seen advanced scanning technologies digitally recreate the famed Library Cave, earning UNESCO recognition.
According to Xu Guobao, vice-president of the China Culture Administration Association, deeper integration requires not only new technologies but also institutional mechanisms that improve innovation resource allocation. This approach stimulates creativity and accelerates new cultural business models while enhancing China’s cultural soft power globally.
As AI tools continue maturing, researchers anticipate further improvements in accuracy and efficiency, providing Chinese cultural products increasingly natural pathways to global audiences while balancing development with necessary security measures and ethical oversight.