K-pop prospects brighten on China market hopes as Seoul and Beijing sign content exchange deal

K-pop prospects person brightened aft Seoul and Beijing signed a contented speech deal, perchance paving the mode for South Korean amusement to re-enter the Chinese market.

South Korea's nationalist broadcaster KBS connected Saturday entered into a media speech and practice concern agreement with Chinese authorities media institution China Media Group. CMG includes authorities media enterprises China Central Television, oregon CCTV, and is straight controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

Shares of SM Entertainment roseate arsenic overmuch arsenic 8.11%, portion JYP Entertainment gained implicit 9.39%. YG Entertainment and Hybe saw day-high gains of astir 4% and 3%, respectively. The stocks person since pared gains.

KBS said this statement would "promote contented exchanges crossed the board, not lone successful quality and sports, but besides crossed culture, including the Chinese motorboat of the 'Music Bank World Tour.'" Music Bank is KBS' flagship programme that features K-pop artists erstwhile they merchandise caller music.

KBS President Park Jang-beom said "I deliberation it's meaningful that we've created a breakthrough that volition let the full Korean contented manufacture to erstwhile again marque a full-fledged foray into the Chinese market."

This comes arsenic South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping met during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, oregon APEC, summit, with Lee penning connected Facebook that the acme was "very important successful the information that it has afloat restored the Korea-China relations."

The instrumentality of K-pop to China could people a turning constituent successful the industry, aft China imposed a "soft ban" connected K-pop contented successful 2016 aft South Korea deployed U.S.' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic rocket system, besides known arsenic THAAD, connected its soil.

KBS plans to solidify its practice with CMG astatine the APEC Summit to beryllium held successful Shenzhen, China adjacent year, the web said.

Local media outlets person besides reported that the partnership volition assistance reviving the "Korea-China Song Festival," an lawsuit that was held from 1999 to 2016, and saw Peng Liyuan, the woman of China's President Xi Jinping performing astatine the festival successful 2006, according to KBS.

While determination person been tiny standard K-pop appearances by groups, specified arsenic instrumentality meetings and idiosyncratic subordinate appearances, concerts oregon large-scale activities person not been held connected mainland China, with groups making their circuit stops successful Macau oregon Hong Kong.

In what would person been the archetypal clip an all-Korean radical held a performance successful mainland China since 2016, lad set EPEX was to execute successful Fuzhou, China, successful May, but the amusement was "postponed owed to section circumstances," according to South Korean media.

Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan combined were among K-pop's largest markets, contempt the "soft ban," being the 2nd largest export marketplace for euphony exports from South Korea successful presumption of export stock successful 2023, according to a Korea Creative Content Agency report published successful July. They accounted for 26.1% of euphony exports from South Korea successful 2023, amounting to $319.58 million.

Japan, South Korea's largest export marketplace for music, had a 35.1% export share, with $429.08 cardinal worthy of euphony exports successful 2023.

According to the 2025 Overseas Hallyu Survey published by South Korea's Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, China's favorability standing toward South Korea stood astatine 73.5%, higher than the survey's wide average.

Hallyu, oregon the Korean Wave, refers to the dispersed of South Korean contented astir the world. The survey besides noted that involvement successful Hallyu contented wrong China has not waned contempt the restrictions connected the nonstop organisation of Korean content.

In a study earlier this year, Morgan Stanley had noted that the rally successful K-pop stocks was chiefly owed to capitalist expectations that China volition unfastened its marketplace to K-pop performers.

— CNBC's Blair Baek contributed to this report.