Ever wonder why Chinese TV rom-coms fall short? Well according to Xu Qinsong, president of Guangdong Painting Academy and a delegate to the CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference), the Chinese obsession with Korean dramas is to blame.

“The Korean drama craze no longer just concerns Korean TV. It is resulting in a lack of confidence in our own culture,” said Xu speaking with Dayoo Net on March 2. According to Xu, in the interests of promoting traditional Chinese culture, Chinese television should tell more Guangdong stories, as well as greater China’s stories. Most Chinese TV dramas are poorly written and lack creativity, he added.

China’s poor TV drama quality is no secret. Most of the TV dramas produced by the country are ignored by viewers, who are increasingly opting for American, British and Korean television. The popular US drama, “House of Cards”, has several high-profile Chinese viewers, such as Wang Qishan (王岐山), China’s Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The country’s disappointing TV dramas even promoted scathing comments from an op-ed in the China Daily. It wrote:

Chinese TV screens are flooded by knock-off and/or poorly made soap operas. Most of the Chinese TV dramas either distort the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, which is a distortion of history, or blindly copy foreign programs. The lack of good stories has of late resulted in loads of TV series on time travel or fights in the harems of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperors. These, in short, are the bane of Chinese TV productions.

The Guangdong official’s comments came after a hit Korean drama called “My Love from the Star” wrapped up its last episode in late February. The show, which tells the story of a top Korean actress who falls in love with an alien boyfriend, was watched more than one billion times online in China, according to china.com.cn.

The Korean drama has even given rise to food joints that are selling fried chicken and beer in Beijing. It had scenes of the leading female character having beer and chicken to celebrate the first snow. One woman in Chongqing broke up with her boyfriend after he refused to buy her chicken and beer at midnight. Another woman from Chongqing almost had a miscarriage when binging on fried chicken and beer while watching the drama.

The question is: will Chinese TV respond to the criticism? Is better television right around the corner? Stay tuned…

Photo from The Wall Street Journal