Chinese Entertainment is Finding New Audiences in Africa

The China Africa Project

Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee kung fu movies have long been popular in Africa. Now, however, Chinese entertainment content is expanding beyond martial arts to include sports and even soap operas. Chinese television dramas are now starting to find audiences in Africa and the Middle East thanks in part to the growing popularity of the pay-TV service StarTimes that dubs programs into dozens of African languages and tech companies like iQiyi that now Arabic language packages. Even the nascent Chinese Super League is starting to build a following on the continent. More African soccer players are competing in the Chinese professional league with games broadcast twice a day during the season to millions of homes across the continent on StarTimes. Freelance tech and digital culture journalist Chu Yang recently co-authored an article with journalist Soila Kenya published on the Chinese news and lifestyle website Sixth Tone that explores how Chinese digital trends are finding their way to Africa and other emerging markets. Chu joins Eric & Cobus from Denmark to discuss her latest report about whether Chinese so-called “C-Dramas” are gaining popularity in Africa. JOIN THE DISCUSSION: CAP on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject Twitter: @eolander | @stadenesque | @chuyang_journ | @solia_kenya SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHINA AFRICA PROJECT Your subscription supports independent journalism. Subscribers get the following: 1. The world's only curated China-Africa News Feed with thousands of articles archive 2. Exclusive analysis of the day's top stories about China in Africa and the Global South 3. A copy of the popular China-Africa Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox by 6am Washington time M-F Try it free for 30-days and see if you like it. Subscriptions start at just $7 a month for students and teachers and $15 a month for everyone else. Subscribe here: www.chinaafricaproject.com/subscribe