China Literature Limited
A Chinese digital-reading and intellectual-property development group built around online literature, writer platforms, and adaptations across entertainment formats.
Last updated October 28, 2026
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Overview
China Literature Limited, commonly known in Chinese as Yuewen Group, is a Chinese cultural-content company whose business is centered on digital reading and the development of intellectual property from online literature. Its operating model connects serialized web fiction, reader-facing digital platforms, authors, copyright management, and adaptations into a broader content ecosystem. Rather than treating online novels solely as a reading product, the company presents stories as source material that can be developed into animation, film and television productions, games, audio, merchandise, and other derivative formats. The group’s public-facing brand portfolio includes Qidian Reading, QQ Reading, Tencent Animation, Xinli Media, and Yuewen Haowu, according to its official corporate website. These brands and businesses cover different stages of the content chain: online reading and author communities, animation and other audiovisual development, film and television production, and consumer products. This portfolio gives China Literature a position at the intersection of publishing, internet platforms, entertainment production, and licensing. Its core content category is Chinese web fiction, including long-form serialized novels and genre fiction. Such works can build audiences through mobile and online reading before moving into other formats. The company’s official materials identify a range of works associated with its online-literature and intellectual-property activities, including The Joy of Life, The Lost Tomb, The King's Avatar, Lord of Mysteries, Douluo Dalu, Battle Through the Heavens, Nirvana in Fire, Fox Spirit Matchmaker, and The Outcast. These properties illustrate the breadth of genres and adaptation forms connected with the group, spanning historical and fantasy fiction, adventure, esports-themed stories, animation, and television. China Literature’s positioning is therefore broader than that of a conventional e-book retailer. It combines a digital reading service with content incubation and intellectual-property operations. Authors and works can be discovered through reading platforms, developed through editorial and platform capabilities, and subsequently licensed or adapted by businesses within or connected to the group. This structure is intended to extend the commercial and cultural life of successful stories while maintaining online reading as the foundation of the ecosystem. The company describes its mission in terms of helping good stories continue to grow and circulate. Its official website characterizes the group as a comprehensive cultural-industry enterprise based on digital reading and focused on intellectual-property cultivation and development. The available reference material does not provide sufficiently verified information here about its founding date, principal founder, headquarters, ownership structure, financial performance, listing details, or current executives; those fields are therefore left unfilled rather than inferred.
History
China Literature is a Chinese content group organized around the growth of online literature and the subsequent development of the intellectual property contained in successful stories. Its public identity combines digital reading with a broader cultural-business strategy: stories are published and consumed online, while selected works may be developed for animation, film and television, games, audio, merchandise, and other forms of licensing. The company’s official presentation places digital reading at the base of its business and intellectual-property cultivation and development at its center. This reflects the evolution of Chinese web fiction from a standalone online publishing category into a source of characters, worlds, narratives, and audiences for multiple entertainment formats. In this model, reading platforms provide discovery and distribution, authors create and serialize works, and the group’s broader businesses support the management and adaptation of content. The group’s named portfolio includes Qidian Reading and QQ Reading on the digital-reading side, Tencent Animation in animation and related content, Xinli Media in film and television, and Yuewen Haowu in consumer products. The combination gives China Literature exposure to both the original creation of stories and their downstream commercialization. It also allows individual properties to be treated as long-term intellectual assets rather than one-off publications. The official website associates the group’s activities with a collection of well-known Chinese online-literature and adaptation properties. These include The Joy of Life, The Lost Tomb, The King’s Avatar, Lord of Mysteries, Douluo Dalu, Battle Through the Heavens, Nirvana in Fire, Fox Spirit Matchmaker, and The Outcast. The titles span different genres and media possibilities, demonstrating the company’s emphasis on a diversified story library rather than a single editorial niche. The supplied reference material does not establish a sufficiently documented chronology for the company’s founding, corporate restructuring, public listing, ownership changes, executive appointments, or major financial events. Accordingly, this dossier records the documented business scope and brand portfolio while leaving unsupported historical and corporate details blank. China Literature is treated as an active corporate brand because the official website presents an operating group and current portfolio of reading, media, animation, and consumer-oriented businesses.
- 2025
IP merchandise business full-year GMV exceeded 1.1 billion yuan, more than doubling year-on-year and reaching a record high.
- 2023
Hou Xiaonan became CEO and President of China Literature.
- 2023
Launched organizational and business upgrade, establishing four major business units and embracing AI.
- 2023
Announced acquisition of Tencent Animation-related businesses and IP assets; short drama unit launched Xinghe incubation plan.
- 2021
Released new corporate mission, vision and strategy.
- 2020
Announced management team adjustment.
- 2018
Completed the acquisition of New Classics Media.
- 2017
Overseas portal WebNovel (起点国际) officially launched.
- 2017
Listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (stock code 0772.HK).
- 2015
Tencent Literature and Shanda Literature completed integration; China Literature Group formally established.
Products and positioning
A digital-reading and intellectual-property platform that develops online literature into a wider cultural and entertainment ecosystem.
Digital reading
Online literature and digital reading
The group’s foundational business is the publication, distribution, and consumption of online fiction through digital reading services. These platforms support serialized storytelling and connect readers with a broad range of Chinese web novels. Digital reading also serves as the discovery layer for properties that may later be developed into audiovisual, animation, gaming, audio, or merchandise projects.
Digital reading platform
Qidian Reading
Qidian Reading is identified by China Literature’s official website as one of the group’s recognized brands. It represents the company’s connection with online literature and reader-facing digital distribution, providing a platform context for serialized fiction, authors, and genre-based reading communities.
Digital reading platform
QQ Reading
QQ Reading is listed in the official portfolio as a China Literature brand. It belongs to the group’s digital-reading layer and supports the delivery of online literary content to readers, while also contributing to the audience base from which commercially valuable intellectual properties can emerge.
Animation and digital entertainment
Tencent Animation
Tencent Animation is included among the group’s named businesses and represents the animation-facing part of its content ecosystem. Its presence reflects China Literature’s strategy of extending stories beyond text and developing online-literature properties for visual and serialized entertainment formats.
Film and television production
Xinli Media
Xinli Media is identified on the official website as part of the group’s portfolio. It connects China Literature’s literary intellectual properties with film and television development and production, providing a route through which successful online stories can reach wider audiovisual audiences.
Licensed consumer products
Yuewen Haowu
Yuewen Haowu is listed as a China Literature brand associated with the group’s consumer-product activities. It illustrates the extension of literary intellectual property into physical goods and merchandise, adding a retail and licensing dimension to the company’s reading and adaptation businesses.
Controversies
2020
Authors' contract copyright and revenue terms spark May 5 update-stoppage protest
In May 2020, some online literature authors questioned China Literature's contract terms on copyright licensing, revenue, and free reading, and launched the May 5 update-stoppage protest. China Literature said the controversy involved legacy contracts and outside misinterpretation, and in June launched new contracts with tiered licensing and optional free or paid models. This entry retains both sides' statements and the subsequent contract changes.
2020
Yuewen responds to rumors about contracts and free reading
Yuewen Group issued a statement responding to rumors and questions. It said the contract under discussion was introduced in September 2019, not April 28, 2020, as rumors claimed, and said implementing free reading across the board was not possible or realistic.
2020
China fines Alibaba Investment, China Literature and Hive Box
China's State Administration for Market Regulation fined Alibaba Investment Limited, China Literature Limited and Shenzhen Hive Box Technology 500,000 yuan each for implementing acquisitions without the required filings. The regulator said the acquisitions did not eliminate or restrict competition.
Recent events
- Unconfirmed
Reported
Yuewen licenses adaptation rights for The Ideal City to Watcha[11]
Yuewen Group's 2021 annual report disclosed that it had licensed the live-action drama remake rights for The Ideal City to Korean streaming platform Watcha.
Reported
China Literature announces sale of its Lazy Audio stake[12]
China Literature announced a definitive agreement to sell its 39.8821% equity interest in Lazy Audio to Tencent Music Entertainment Group for RMB1.08 billion in cash. The transaction was expected to close in the first half of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.
Reported
China announces fines for three companies over deal-reporting failures[10]
China’s market regulator said it would fine Alibaba Group, China Literature and Shenzhen Hive Box 500,000 yuan each for not reporting deals properly for anti-trust reviews.
Reported
China fines Alibaba Investment, China Literature and Hive Box[9]
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation fined Alibaba Investment Limited, China Literature Limited and Shenzhen Hive Box Technology 500,000 yuan each for implementing acquisitions without the required filings. The regulator said the acquisitions did not eliminate or restrict competition.
- Unconfirmed
Yuewen Group launches revised author cooperation contracts[13]
Yuewen Group launched revised author cooperation contracts in three categories and four contract types. Under the basic and authorization agreements, authors can choose whether and how to authorize each work and receive different rights and resources.
Reported
Yuewen Group and People's Reading sign strategic partnership[14]
Yuewen Group and People's Reading signed a strategic cooperation agreement and will jointly establish a Reading Cognition Laboratory. The agreement includes literary creation initiatives and contests, as well as a platform for military-themed online literature.
- Unconfirmed
Yuewen responds to rumors about contracts and free reading[8]
Yuewen Group issued a statement responding to rumors and questions. It said the contract under discussion was introduced in September 2019, not April 28, 2020, as rumors claimed, and said implementing free reading across the board was not possible or realistic.
Reported
Yuewen Group announces management succession[15]
Yuewen Group announced that co-CEO Wu Wenhui and some senior executives would resign from their current management positions, and that Cheng Wu would succeed Wu as CEO.
Reported
China Literature and Tencent Music announce strategic partnership[16]
China Literature and Tencent Music announced a strategic partnership to develop the long-form audio market for audiobooks. China Literature will license literary works from its platform to Tencent Music for adaptation into audiobooks, which the companies may distribute globally on their respective platforms.
Reported
Hongxiu Reading launches a game open platform[17]
Hongxiu Reading, under Yuewen, launched a game open platform intended to support integration between digital reading and the game ecosystem.
Sources23 sources
- 1China Literature official websiteyuewen.com
- 2阅文集团_关于我们yuewen.com
- 3阅文集团_关于我们（品牌）yuewen.com
- 4阅文集团关于我们 - 公司概要yuewen.com
- 5Chinese literatureen.wikipedia.org
- 6Authors' contract copyright and revenue terms spark May 5 update-stoppage protestthepaper.cn
- 7Authors' contract copyright and revenue terms spark May 5 update-stoppage protestthepaper.cn
- 8Yuewen responds to rumors about contracts and free readingchinaz.com
- 9China fines Alibaba Investment, China Literature and Hive Boxnbcmiami.com
- 10China fines Alibaba Investment, China Literature and Hive Boxthehindubusinessline.com
- 11阅文集团将《赘婿》翻拍权授权给Watchaent.sina.com.cn
- 12阅文集团宣布出售懒人听书股权prnewswire.com
- 13阅文集团推出新版作家合作合同finance.jrj.com.cn
- 14阅文集团与人民阅读签署战略合作协议finance.sina.com.cn
- 15阅文集团宣布管理层交接finance.sina.com.cn
- 16阅文集团与腾讯音乐宣布战略合作tech.sina.com.cn
- 17红袖读书推出游戏开放平台finance.sina.com.cn
- 18迪士尼中国与阅文集团合作开发《星球大战》网络小说technode.com
- 19阅文宣布收购OBU 20%股权tech.sina.com.cn
- 20阅文附属公司同意收购OBU 20%股权finance.sina.com.cn
- 21市场监管总局对阿里巴巴、阅文、丰巢作出行政处罚tech.sina.com.cn
- 22腾讯音乐娱乐集团与阅文集团达成战略合作，布局音频娱乐市场版图_国内财经_财经_中金在线news.cnfol.com
- 23阅文集团与腾讯音乐达成战略合作finance.sina.com.cn
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