K-pop prospects brighten as investors bet on its return to China
CHENGDU, CHINA – JANUARY 05: Lee Teuk, Ye Sung, Dong Hae and Kim Ryeo Wook from South Korean boy band Super Junior attend a press conference in Chengdu, China’s Sichuan Province, on January 5, 2020. (Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
K-pop hopes are boosted after Seoul and Beijing signed a content exchange agreement, potentially paving the way for the South Korean entertainment industry to re-enter the Chinese market.
South Korea’s national broadcaster KBS stepped in on Saturday media exchange and cooperation business agreement With Chinese state media company China Media Group. CMG includes state media organizations such as China Central Television and is directly controlled by the Communist Party of China.
SM Entertainment’s shares rose as much as 8.11%, while JYP Entertainment gained over 9.39%. YG Entertainment and Hybe saw the day’s highest gains of 4% and 3% respectively. Shares have pared their gains since then.
KBS said this agreement will “promote the exchange of content not only in news and sports, but also across culture, including the launch of the ‘Music Bank World Tour’ in China.” Music Bank is KBS’s flagship program that highlights K-pop artists when they release new music.
KBS Chairman Park Jang-beom “I think it makes sense for us to create a breakthrough that will enable the entire Korean content industry to make a full-fledged entry into the Chinese market once again.” he said.
This happened when South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping met during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Lee writes on Facebook He said the summit was “very important to fully repair Korea-China relations.”
K-pop’s return to China could be a turning point in the industry, after China imposed a “soft ban” on K-pop content in 2016 following South Korea’s deployment of the US’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile system, also known as THAAD, on its territory.
The network said KBS plans to solidify cooperation with CMG at next year’s APEC Summit in Shenzhen, China.
Local media organizations also reported that there was a partnership According to KBS, it will help revive the “Korea-China Song Festival”, which was held from 1999 to 2016, and where Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, performed at the festival in 2006.
While groups have had small-scale K-pop appearances, such as fan meetings and individual member appearances, no concerts or large-scale events have been held in mainland China, and groups have stopped their tours in Macau or Hong Kong.
It was the first time an all-Korean group held a concert in mainland China since 2016; Boy band EPEX were due to perform in Fuzhou, China, in May, but the show was “postponed due to local conditions”. To the South Korean media.
According to a study, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were among K-pop’s largest markets despite the “soft ban”, becoming the second largest export market for music exports from South Korea in terms of export share in 2023. Korea Creative Content Agency report It was published in July. They accounted for 26.1% of music exports from South Korea in 2023, or $319.58 million.
Japan, South Korea’s largest music export market, had a 35.1% export share with music exports of $429.08 million in 2023.
according to 2025 Overseas Hallyu Research According to the report published by South Korea’s Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, China’s positive rating towards South Korea was higher than the overall average of the survey at 73.5%.
Hallyu, or Korean Wave, refers to the spread of South Korean content around the world. The survey also noted that interest in Hallyu content in China has not diminished despite restrictions on direct distribution of Korean content.
“Overall, Chinese consumers’ interest in and consumption of Korean cultural content continues to grow, and there is significant potential for Korean content to generate even greater economic and cultural impact in the future,” he added.
The survey also noted that the Chinese government’s recent policy announcements aimed at attracting foreign investment and loosening regulations have increased expectations for the easing of the Hallyu ban.
In a report published earlier this year, Morgan Stanley stated that the rise in K-pop stocks was mainly due to investors’ expectations that China would open its market to K-pop artists.
— CNBC’s Blair Baek contributed to this report.
