The Recommendations of the CPC Central Committee for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development emphasizes the importance of “promoting new forms of literature and art for the general public in the internet age.” The equivalent Chinese term, Xin Dazhong Wenyi, was also selected as one of the “Top 10 New Terms of 2025.” From its initial appearance in top-level policy design to its circulation as a widely used public phrase, new popular literature and art has evolved from an emerging cultural phenomenon into a central issue in cultural development, profoundly reshaping today’s cultural ecology and the intellectual lives of the public.

From ‘passive reception’ to ‘active creation’

“People have transitioned from being passive recipients of literature and art to becoming autonomous protagonists in the cultural sphere,” said Bai Ye, a research fellow from the Institute of Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “Distinct from the earlier ‘popularization of literature and art,’ which focused primarily on dissemination, new popular literature and art enables ordinary workers not only to participate directly in the creation and performance of cultural works, but also to share freely the works they produce and appreciate, further foregrounding the people’s central role in literature and art. This shift is also reflected in the turn toward life-based storytelling, publicly oriented content, widespread dissemination, and the rise of ‘civilian aesthetics.’”

Fan Yugang, a professor from the Center for Literary Theory and Aesthetics at Shandong University, observed: “There is an inherent continuity between new and traditional popular literature and art. Both adhere to a people-centered orientation in creation, serve the cultural needs of the people, and reflect the diverse forms, transformative trends, and evolving value logic of people’s literature and art.”

The “newness” of new popular literature and art does not lie in a single dimension of change, but in systematic innovation across multiple levels, including technological media, creative agents, modes of dissemination, value orientation, and aesthetic paradigms. These dimensions are interrelated and dynamically intertwined, said Zhou Zhixiong, director of the online literature research center at Anhui University.

Exploring effective development paths

New popular literature and art spans multiple literary and artistic fields. As Bai explained, in the arts it includes forms such as short videos, mini-dramas, stand-up comedy, and online games. In literature, phenomena such as amateur writing, new farmer writing, and new worker writing have emerged, while online literature has increasingly been incorporated into the scope of observation.

Although these forms differ in focus, they share a common foundation in the full use of internet platforms, tools, and technological conditions, Bai continued. As a new medium, the internet endows new popular literature and art with an inherent capacity to transcend boundaries and bridge divisions, encouraging a more diverse, integrated, and open cultural landscape. In this process, the field has gradually moved beyond the singular scope of “cultural undertakings” and expanded toward complementary interaction between “cultural undertakings” and “cultural industries.”

Notably, certain forms of new popular literature and art have become important vehicles for Chinese culture to “go global.” The online novel Lord of the Mysteries has been translated into multiple languages and has had a broad impact among overseas readers. The domestically produced online game “Genshin Impact” has attracted players worldwide with its highly refined production quality. The mini-drama “Escape from the British Museum” has drawn international attention through its vivid storytelling. In Zhou’s opinion, online literature, online games, and online dramas now constitute the “new trio” of China’s cultural exports. In this sense, new popular literature and art has not only enriched the domestic cultural ecosystem but has also demonstrated considerable vitality in cross-cultural communication.

Yet prosperity also brings challenges. Fan noted in his research that new popular literature and art exhibits, to some extent, a tendency toward quantity over quality: “Due to the relatively low barriers to entry, many works lack depth in language, structure, and intellectual content. Some platforms, in their pursuit of traffic, encourage formulaic and vulgar content, undermining the seriousness and artistic integrity of literature and art.”

Building contemporary criticism theory

Bai has long examined the transformation of literary and art criticism in the contemporary era. “In the face of burgeoning new popular literature and art, the theoretical systems and knowledge frameworks we once relied upon are no longer sufficient for grasping its tendencies or interpreting related phenomena,” he admitted. “Confronted with entirely new developmental trends, our theoretical and knowledge reserves are clearly lagging.” This assessment captures the practical difficulties currently confronting literary and art criticism and underscores the urgency of theoretical innovation in response to the rapid development of new popular literature and art.

With popular literature and art extending from traditional literary and artistic domains into online audiovisual media and online games—gradually forming a diversified cultural ecology—criticism must adopt a broader perspective to engage with contemporary practice. Zhou believes that constructing a theory of literary and art criticism with contemporary characteristics requires grounding it in modern cultural practices, inheriting existing theoretical resources, and drawing judiciously on international experience, ultimately forming a critical system with Chinese characteristics.