Boosting Web Literature

Beijing Youth Daily April 13

Internet literature has gained traction in China in recent years, such as fantasy novel Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Blossoms, whose TV series adaptation Eternal Love aired earlier this year.

The market value of online literature reached 9 billion yuan ($1.3 billion), and subscribers to the genre reached 333 million at the end of last year, according to the Third Chinese Online Literature Forum on April 11.

The flourishing online literature has become a source of inspiration for a large number of films, TV series, games and animations.

In the meantime, the rapidly growing genre is plagued with problems such as piracy. Pirated versions often appear soon after original Web novels are posted online by authors. Moreover, online writers tend to imitate popular works, resulting in homogeneous and low-quality productions.

To promote the healthy development of the genre, the government should formulate favorable policies for encouraging originality in online literary works and tighten punishment for plagiarism.

In the meantime, proper guidance should be provided to online writers to create works that meet contemporary Chinese values, morals and aesthetics and resonate with readers.