The 2022 China Science Fiction Network Literature White Paper was released, and the science fiction network text grew rapidly.

　　On March 25th, at the 33rd China Science Fiction Galaxy Award Ceremony, Science Fiction World and China Science Fiction Research Institute of Sichuan University jointly released the White Paper on China Science Fiction Network Literature (2022) (hereinafter referred to as the White Paper), which provided the latest development of domestic science fiction network literature from the aspects of content theme, creative ecology and IP.

　　Jiang Zhenyu, Doctor of Science Fiction Literature and Head of China Science Fiction Research Institute of Sichuan University.

　　The white paper points out that the post-90s and post-00s are rapidly pouring into the production and dissemination of sci-fi online literature in the activity field of the Internet, which is naturally labeled as "younger". At the same time, sci-fi online literature continues to export high-quality works, winning heavy awards in the industry, the IP-related industrial chain is becoming more and more perfect, the relatively stable business model and healthy and orderly community culture of sci-fi online literature are gradually taking shape, and sci-fi has become one of the most important categories of online literature, reflecting the high-quality development trend of online literature.

　　The number of sci-fi contracts increased first, and the quality of works was affirmed by the mainstream.

　　According to the data of the white paper, in 2022, qidian released 42,080 sci-fi online literature works, and the number of original sci-fi online literature works increased by 30%, ranking first in the growth of popular categories, and the scale was second only to the fantasy and urban categories as traditional online literature categories.

　　In terms of subject matter, the white paper points out that the theme of sci-fi websites is gradually deepening, and the authors are no longer satisfied with the simple application of sci-fi elements, and a series of new integrated writing directions have been born, such as evolutionary superpower, future world, interstellar civilization, super technology and other sub-categories, which meet the diverse reading expectations of readers.

　　In terms of quality, the white paper points out that sci-fi online literature is favored by traditional literary circles and sci-fi cultural circles, and more and more sci-fi online literature works have won heavy awards in the field of domestic sci-fi literature because of their innovation and interest. For example, In 2021, We Live in Nanjing, which ranked first in the best-selling list of starting point reading for a long time, won the highest honor of China science fiction "Yinhe Award".

　　It is worth mentioning that in this year’s Yinhe Award, a total of 13 online works were shortlisted and finally won four awards. The number of online works shortlisted and the number of awards reached a record high. Among them, Yuan Tong, a platinum writer of reading literature, won the best sci-fi online novel, Tian Rui, a great god writer after 1995, won the best original book, and Elbow Naming of the Night, which sold Xiao Langjun’s "Lingjing Traveler", won the most adaptation potential award. The four winning works were serialized in the starting point reading App, which is also the sixth consecutive China for online literature works under the Reading Group.

　　After more than 70% of the authors are 00, readers are more willing to pay.

　　In terms of the author’s ecology, the white paper shows that in 2022, there were more than 42,000 starting writers who created sci-fi online literature. Among them, 72% of the writers who chose sci-fi themes for the first time were after 00, and about 70% of the sci-fi category contracted writers were undergraduate students and above; Guangdong, Jiangsu and other economically developed coastal areas, as well as Sichuan, a sci-fi town in China, are still the provinces with the largest distribution of new writers. In recent years, the number of sci-fi net writers has exploded, and the trend of younger and higher education is obvious.

　　In terms of readers’ ecology, the white paper points out that sci-fi online texts are becoming the most popular category for readers. Taking the starting point as an example, since 2021, nearly half of the readers have been catching up with sci-fi themes every month. In 2022, the number of sci-fi category readers increased by 39.73% compared with last year, ranking first in the growth of readers in all categories of starting points. At the same time, in 2022, nearly 70% of science fiction readers are under the age of 30, about 40% have bachelor degree or above, and about 30% are distributed in economically developed coastal areas such as Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. These readers with strong spending power also have a stronger willingness to pay. In 2022, the number of paying users in the starting science fiction category increased by nearly 118% compared with last year, and the conversion rate of paid reading was as high as 25%, all of which were the first in the starting category.

　　Sci-fi web IP has been adapted into animation and audio drama in batches.

　　In terms of IP development of sci-fi websites, the white paper data shows that by the end of 2022, the IP adaptation rate of sci-fi online literature works shortlisted for this "Yinhe Award" was nearly 50%. Many popular sci-fi websites have been adapted into audio dramas, animations and film and television dramas. For example, the adapted cartoons represented by Forty Thousand Years of Star Field and Sword of Dawn, and the adapted cartoons represented by Nomenclature of Night, First Sequence, No Voice of Titan, and Starry Coming have all been online and gained favorable comments from the mass market. On the Himalayan platform, the number of audio dramas of Nomenclature of Night exceeded 1.1 billion, and the number of audio dramas of Lingjing Walker exceeded 400 million.

　　In terms of exporting overseas, the white paper points out that a batch of classic domestic sci-fi online literature appeared on the international platform and spread the story of China, which became the "trendsetter" in the wave of China culture going out to sea. In 2022, a number of China sci-fi online literature works, represented by The Age of the Earth and The First Sequence, were included in the Chinese collection of the British Library for the first time. Sci-fi online literature such as Super God Gene and Super God Machinist were also selected into the "Overseas Communication List" of China’s online literature influence list in 2021 and 2020 sponsored by the Chinese Writers Association. With excellent creative quality and distinctive aesthetic personality, they were "in North America and Southeast Asia".

　　In the Research Report on the Development of Network Literature in China in 2021 issued by China Academy of Social Sciences, it is mentioned that science fiction has become one of the five categories of network literature. This white paper holds that since the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan, with the guidance and support of the state, society and platforms, China’s online literature has formed a diversified content pattern, which plays an increasingly important role in writing "China story, China experience and China imagination". As the most important category of online literature at present, sci-fi online literature shows the infinite possibility of future narration of "Chinese modernization story".