Instead of participating directly in the industry, the Internet Writers’ Village supports authors with comprehensive services throughout the creative process. Photo: Zhang Qingli/CSST

The China Internet Writers’ Village in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, is a creative base designed to integrate ecology, production, and daily life for writers of online literature. Since its founding in 2017, the village has attracted 350 writers, including Tang Jia San Shao, Nan Pai San Shu, and Guan Pingchao. Through a full industrial-chain service system, the village guides Chinese online literature toward international stages through multi-format adaptations, bringing China’s stories to the world. Recently, CSST visited the village to explore how China’s online literature integrates industrial and cultural development.

Integrating into China’s cultural undertakings

The establishment of the village mirrors the evolution of Chinese online literature itself.

In the 1990s, as the internet age began in China, a group of young people sat before newly connected computers, typing out what would become the “pioneering works” of online literature. Among the first literature enthusiasts to settle this digital ground, some imitated Gu Long’s suspenseful style, some wrote school romances, and others experimented with cyberpunk—mostly driven by a simple urge for expression. Years later, these early creations would form the foundation of an IP industry chain worth hundreds of billions of yuan.

After 2003, some platforms introduced VIP memberships and paid reading models, where readership data—such as daily reads, click-through rates, and the number of paying readers—directly affected writers’ income. With the rise of mobile reading after 2010, both writing and reading became more accessible, and the number of online writers expanded rapidly. The popularity of online novels and their screen adaptations marked the beginning of industrialization of online literature and the rise of fan-driven economy. “By 2011, some top online writers were already earning over 10 million yuan (approximately $1.4 million),” recalled Xia Lie, director of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries at Hangzhou Normal University.

However, not published in print, these works long remained outside the mainstream. “For a long time, online literature was seen as something naive and not taken seriously,” said Xia, who, as a publisher, has recognized its immense potential in the early 2000s. Around that time, he also met many writers who had long been “hidden behind screens” and became close friends with them. In 2007, Zhejiang established a genre literature committee, and through Xia’s efforts, many local writers—including Nan Pai San Shu, Cang Yue, Liu Lian Zi, and Cao San Gong Zi—joined its ranks.

After 2010, while the commercial value of online literature surged, challenges emerged—“too much quantity, too little quality; many plateaus, few peaks.” According to He Hong, director of the Online Literature Center of the China Writers Association, the fast-growing industry required stronger guidance, better integration across the value chain, and a shift from mass production to quality creation.

But how could the sound development of online literature be ensured? Would a purely market-driven approach be sufficient, or is stronger coordination needed? “Organizational structure” proved essential to overcoming the industry’s many bottlenecks.

In September 2013, the China Writers Association held the National Youth Writers’ Creative Conference, where online literature became a major topic of discussion. Cao Qiwen, then deputy secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group of the Zhejiang Writers’ Association, recalled that after the conference, he, along with Zang Jun, then Party secretary of the Zhejiang Writers’ Association, and Xia Lie, braved heavy rain to visit three online writers—Feng Huo Xi Zhu Hou, Tian Can Tu Dou, and Meng Ru Shen Ji—chatting freely in the rented apartment the three writers shared.

It took only three months for a beautiful idea to go from conception to realization. On Jan. 7, 2014, with the support of the China Writers Association and the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, the Zhejiang Online Literature Writers Association—the first provincial-level online writers’ association in China—was officially established.

Over the next three years, under the unified deployment of the China Writers Association, three major platforms—the Institute of Online Literature, the Internet Writers’ Village, and the China International Online Literature Week—were successively established in Hangzhou. Increasingly, online writers settled in the village, joining the tide of cultural development in the new era.

Supporting high-quality development

In the new era, online writers have demonstrated a growing sense of cultural confidence and consciousness. Realist works such as Ode to Joy, Remaining Sin, and Heroes of Internet have drawn wide attention, injecting a spirit of realism into the field. Fantasy writing has also evolved toward higher quality, expanding online literature’s mainstream influence.

To meet writers’ needs, the village offers training courses covering writing skills, industry linkage, and artistic literacy, inviting experts from institutions such as the Dunhuang Academy, Xiling Seal Art Society, and China Academy of Art—as well as traditional writers like Lu Yingong and Hai Fei—to provide guidance for online writers. “Many young writers have creative ability but lack industry awareness. Our training empowers them continuously,” said Shen Rong, the village’s general manager of operations.

To help writers stay connected with real life, the village organizes experiential camps each year, taking them to factories, rural areas, and revolutionary sites for field research. Through years of participation in these field activities, writer Jiang Li Zi immersed herself in real-life experiences, gathering firsthand material that enriched her writing the depth of realism. Consequently, one of her novels was later adapted into the hit TV drama “Just in Time.”

Within the village, creators from all walks of life tell China’s stories from unique perspectives. Qi Cheng, an associate professor from the Business School at Beijing Normal University, specializes in industrial history, a theme that reflects his academic expertise. His representative novel Great Power, Heavy Industry won the Online Publication Award at the Fifth China Publishing Government Award. He also benefited greatly from the village’s exchange platform. In April 2025, invited by another Taizhou-native writer from the village and with the help of the Zhejiang Writers Association and the village, he visited manufacturing enterprises in Taizhou, Zhejiang to gather material on the front lines.

In Qi Cheng’s view, online literature has been maturing in recent years, with “more authors beginning to reflect on society, history, and human destiny.” He calls for wider participation in the field: “Their participation will add greater intellectual depth and richer thematic diversity to online literature,” breaking away from the short-sighted pursuit of “traffic,” shattering circle biases, promoting thematic innovation, and truly steering online literature toward “refinement.”

Toward quality, industrialization, and internationalization

Contrary to public perception, the Writers’ Village is not a secluded retreat but a service-oriented platform. By innovating service mechanisms, linking industrial chains, and promoting IP transformation, it has become a key hub bridging online literature and real-world industries—and a window into the broader industrialization of Chinese online literature.

For years, Hangzhou’s High-Tech Zone has leveraged digital technology to strengthen cultural industries, forming a full industrial chain centered on digital IP. In He Hong’s view, this is why the village chose to locate in Zhejiang, alongside the province’s abundant literary resources and large readership base. “The fertile ground for IP adaptation into film, television, animation, games, etc., can help online literature form a complete industrial chain,” he explained.

“The village itself doesn’t engage in industry itself—it only provides services,” Shen noted. To this end, the village has developed a service system encompassing training programs, experiential camps, and an “IP Express” platform, which connects writers directly with the market. Xia summarized the village’s core mission as building “two resource banks”—a creative bank of writers and an industrial bank of cultural enterprises—serving as a bridge between the two.

The heart of online literature’s industrialization lies in IP adaptation. The IP Express serves as both a testing ground for the market and a catalyst for quality. So far, this domestically pioneered IP roadshow framework has held 31 events. In Shen’s view, market recognition and artistic pursuit are not opposed: “Our core concept is to turn works into products, writers into entrepreneurs, and creativity into value.” Only when works withstand the test of the market, he added, can online literature shed its label as “fast-food literature.” Writer Wang Yurong echoed this sentiment: “I now pay special attention to visual expression in writing, preparing for subsequent film and television adaptations. That’s the biggest difference between IP-oriented creation and traditional serialization.”

Through resource integration, the village facilitates the adaptation of outstanding works into multiple formats such as film, television, animation, games, and audiobooks. Super IPs such as Legend of Canghai, Joy of Life, and Soul Land all originated here. Writer Fa Biao De Wo Niu has even transitioned from author to cultural entrepreneur, founding Ruohong Culture to adapt multiple works into animation, earning millions of dollars abroad.

Technological innovation further drives IP transformation. Traditional writer Chen Jincheng, after settling in the village, founded the “Silver Screen Literature” team, using artificial intelligence-generated content (AICG) to transform literary works into music videos, short films, animations, and other visual works. In his view, AIGC is a “Vernacular Movement in the field of imagery,” providing writers with a brand-new form of expression.

The village’s efforts also extend overseas. As cultural “going-out” has become a national strategy, the village actively promotes the “going global” of Chinese online literature. In September 2024, the village took 20 literary works to Italy, France, and the UK for cultural exchange, sharing Chinese stories with global audiences.