THE list of Top Chinese Online Literary Works in 2019 was released Tuesday in Shenzhen. After three rounds of assessments and online voting by 1.79 million readers, 19 works and projects made the list, including nine novels from China Literature Group under Tencent.

Since 2014, the China Writers Association has issued the Top Chinese Online Novels every year, which was upgraded this year to become the Top Chinese Online Literary Works, adding lists regarding the influence of online novels’ intellectual property and their international reach.

The Top 10 Chinese Online Novels include “Zhaoyang Jingshi” (“Cases in Zhaoyang”), “I Am on Mars,” “Library of Heavenly Path,” “Zai Zhi Tian Xia” (“Rule the Country”) and “Hao Dang” (“The Broad World), covering genres including reality, fantasy, martial arts and science fiction.

The Top Six Most Influential Online Literary IPs include novels such as “Joy of Life” and “Jade Dynasty.” Among the Top Three Most Influential Chinese Novels Overseas, “Library of Heavenly Path” was selected as the most influential title, and the website Webnovel was chosen as the best international project.

Judging from the lists, Chinese online literature has seen further improvement in terms of quality and genre diversity. Novels such as “Cases in Zhaoyang,” which tells the story of police solving crimes with the help of residents in Zhaoyang, and the science fiction tale “I Am on Mars” have been included in the collection of the National Library of China.

Popular novels have also turned into valuable IPs that have been adapted as cartoons, TV series and movies to increase their added value. One good example is “Joy of Life,” with an adapted TV series viewed 13 billion times on the major Chinese online video platforms Tencent and iQiyi.

Chinese online novels have also drawn rising interest from overseas. On Webnovel, more than 900 Chinese online novels have been translated into English to date, including those from genres such as martial arts and fantasy, with total views surpassing 70 million.

The novel “Library of Heavenly Path,” capturing the traditional Chinese spirit of respecting teachers and truth, has become the most popular work on Webnovel. It has been translated into English, Turkish and French, among other languages.

(China Daily)