Chinese television dramas win the hearts and minds of younger generation

Increasing cooperation and exchanges in the entertainment industry between China and Nigeria have not only brought more laughter to Nigerians, but have also given them new inspiration.

In Nigeria, Chinese pay TV firm StarTimes has been cooperating with the country's famous Nollywood to produce TV series and films for more than 10 years, with many of them becoming very popular with young Nigerians.

Wang Qian, director of the African language channel for StarTimes in the Nigerian capital Abuja, said the company now runs 122 TV channels in Nigeria and broadcasts television series and movies produced by Nollywood. These also include broadcasting shows from China.

Interesting plots

"We found that many Nigerians prefer to watch long TV series, as they have interesting plots with twists and turns, and Nigerians pay great importance to family," she said. "So many of the TV dramas that we introduced are of related themes such as family and relationship."

Originally, television dramas introduced from China had only English subtitles. However, with cooperation with Nollywood in recent years, all Chinese TV series are broadcast with translations and dubbed in English or locally spoken languages such as Hausa, which is widely spoken in northern Nigeria.

In addition to family, marriage, kung fu, legend and science fiction, TV series that have realistic features depicting China's development have also become popular with many Nigerians, Wang said.

One such TV series is Minning Town, which shows how villagers from the impoverished Xihaigu region in China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region built new homes on extremely dry land and were lifted out of poverty. It became a major hit in northern Nigeria when it was broadcast in Hausa last year, Wang said.

"The TV series got good feedback from viewers in northern Nigeria because Xihaigu region is very much like Nigeria's northern regions in terms of climate and natural conditions, and both areas are underdeveloped compared with the rest of the country," she said. "The way villagers in Xihaigu got rid of poverty through hard work, such as growing fungus, has given the people in northern Nigeria great inspiration."

On StarTimes' official Facebook account, many Nigerian netizens left numerous comments on the page, expressing their feelings about the TV series.

"Some of them said they were encouraged by the TV series and would think of how they can help their family change their fate, while some said they have new dreams after watching it," Wang said.

"We realized some TV series featuring themes such as poverty alleviation and the Belt and Road Initiative projects are popular, especially among people in a certain region, because it resonates with them."

In addition to offering a wide variety of programs to Nigerian viewers, StarTimes' entry into the country has also helped reduce the cost of pay TV, enabling more people from lower classes to have access to high-quality TV programs and movies.

Li Xuda, director of China Cultural Center in the Nigerian capital Abuja, said with increasing exchanges in culture between China and Nigeria in recent years, people of the two countries have an increasing understanding of each other.

The center alone organizes more than 40 cultural events every year, featuring traditional Chinese culture such as calligraphy, martial arts and Chinese language, he said.

"In Abuja, it is estimated that the number of martial arts fans has exceeded 1,000," he said.

In a major move to improve cultural exchanges between the two countries, Li said more than 3,000 young talent from Nigeria will be sent to China for training over the next five years.

With sponsorship from the governments of the two countries, the young Nigerians can help boost Nigeria's cultural sectors in dance, arts and film once they complete training and return to Nigeria.