iQIYI Dominates Chinese Streaming Market with H1 2026 Content Surge

The platform’s dominance relied on a string of high-impact releases that captured both critical acclaim and mass viewership. The historical romance Pursuit of Jade led the charge, reaching a peak popularity index of 10,604 and controlling 55.1% of the viewership market share. Crime dramas such as The Punishment and Born with Luck also surpassed the 10,000 popularity threshold, cementing a trend of consistent engagement that defined the company’s output through June.

Variety programming proved equally resilient, with long-running franchises maintaining record-breaking momentum. The show HAHAHAHAHA 6 topped the Enlightent variety charts 68 times, setting a new benchmark for seasonal intellectual property. Beyond live-action hits, iQIYI reported aggressive growth in niche sectors: original Chinese animation viewing duration jumped 98% year-on-year, while the platform’s micro-drama library expanded to over 50,000 titles. These results affirm a strategy of saturating every content vertical—from children’s programming to online films—to insulate the platform against shifting audience preferences.