Bilibili, 'China's YouTube', draws Indian creators despite no India launch, as India-China ties thaw and YouTube monetisation set to tighten

New Delhi: Indian digital creators have started posting content on Bilibili, often called China’s YouTube, seeking to seize the opportunity to build audiences and generate revenue even as the video network has yet to be launched in the country. What started out as an anime, comics and gaming community in 2009 has now evolved into a video network with user-generated and professional content.

The development comes at a time when India-China ties are improving, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping calling for greater business linkages and mobility during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit last week. It also precedes the looming tougher monetisation on YouTube.

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The platform’s international service currently covers markets including Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. Last month, the company said it had launched its international app on Android, with the iOS version coming soon and more countries to follow. India is not currently listed among Bilibili’s international markets, but smaller Indian creators have started creating content on the platform.

For Jharkhand-based travel creator and vlogger Nawnit Kumar Tiwari, the appeal lies in the possibility of building an audience before the platform develops a larger creator ecosystem in India. “I started creating content on Bilibili around 15 days ago and the response has been good. I have crossed 700 followers and received thousands of views,” he said.

The creator behind the channel Ghumakkad Nawnit has been posting content online for a year, garnering 21,000 followers on Facebook, 14,500 on Instagram and 6,500 subscribers on YouTube.

Moving from TikTok

Accessing Bilibili required some workarounds. Tiwari changed his phone’s location setting to Singapore, while other Indian creators, he said, are experimenting with browsers, location settings, Android Package Kits (APKs) and virtual private networks (VPNs). But can Bilibili build a foothold in India, where the ban on popular Chinese social media platform TikTok remains in place since June 2020?

“Given the thaw in IndiaChina relations, we might see some kind of opening for apps such as Bilibili. But again, we’ll have to wait and see how the normalisation is going to progress,” said Varaprasad S Dolla, associate professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He said that international creators like MrBeast add authenticity to Bilibili, and while its international version improves access to English content, its audience remains largely Chinese “They are slowly rolling out monetisation and other features through updates,” he said, as linking the Indian banking system to the platform is still in process.

ET’s queries emailed to Bilibili, YouTube and the ministry of electronics and information technology did not elicit a response until press time.

Tightening Monetisation

Indian creators have started hopping onto Bilibili months before new applicants seeking access to YouTube’s full ads and Premium revenue programme will need 1,000 subscribers and either 8,000 qualified public watch hours in the previous 365 days or 20 million qualified Shorts views in the previous 90 days, double the current thresholds, from February 1, 2027.

That could create room for emerging platforms, particularly if they offer newer creators access to new audiences and additional ways to monetise. But Bilibili will have to compete with platforms where creators have already spent years building their audiences.

“YouTube and Instagram already have large creator communities, strong audience bases and established advertiser networks. Most creators have spent years building their followings on these platforms, so Bilibili is more likely to work as a complementary platform rather than a replacement,” said Rajesh Sethi, partner and sector leader - media, entertainment and sports at PwC India.

Also read: YouTube pushes India’s content industry towards owning IP

He said Bilibili could find an opportunity among younger audiences interested in anime, gaming, technology and learning content, while regional language features such as local language search, subtitles, dubbing and dedicated creator programmes could help it expand beyond metro markets.

Its community-focused approach could also help it build niche but highly engaged audiences. Some, like Raj Mishra, managing director and CEO of marketing agency Chtrbox and a former TikTok executive, said that Bilibili would need to offer more than financial incentives.