Participants hold a banner displaying a collection of Chinese internet writers' books for cultural exchange in Europe in September 2024. [Photo provided by China Internet Writers Village]

East China's Zhejiang province has long been home to a constellation of literary talent. Its digital-age writers are now rising to global reach.

The province counts 772 members of the China Writers Association and 3,442 members of the Zhejiang Writers' Association, and over 2,300 members of local online literature groups.

Among them is Wang Yurong, a post-1990s internet novelist and Party secretary of the China Internet Writers Village, located in Hangzhou's Binjiang district. Her popular novel Lantern Festival Joy, steeped in Song Dynasty (960-1279) aesthetics, has been translated into English and published in Singapore.

Wang said she would take the book and more than 10 related cultural products to Japan in October, where she would represent Chinese youth at the Asia-Europe Foundation Young Leaders Summit.

Currently, the village has 350 resident writers. Behind their growing output is strong institutional support. Zhejiang was the first province in China to establish a writers' association dedicated to online literature and to launch immersive "writer experience camps".

In 2019, the Zhejiang Writers' Association rolled out the "New Rain Plan", a three-year mentorship initiative that supports online authors under the age of 35.

Zhejiang is also leading China's online literature push abroad. In one example, The Bad Kids, a suspense novel, has been translated into English, Burmese, Persian, and Swahili. It has reached global audiences via digital reading platforms, audio dramas, short videos, and promotional trailers.