Chinese CCTV Plans Major K-pop Concerts in Second Half of This Year – Signaling De facto Lift of Hanban Rule

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV is reportedly planning large-scale joint Korean-Chinese concerts in six major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, by inviting numerous K-pop idol groups this year’s second half. This development has heightened expectations that the Hanban rule restricting Korean cultural influence will be lifted. Following the announcement, domestic entertainment stocks surged collectively. As of May 2, the “HANARO Fn K-POP & Media” ETF rose 11.32% over the previous week, leading all others in returns, followed by the “ACE KPOP Focus” ETF at 11.21% and the “TIGER Media Contents” ETF at 9.66%. Major entertainment agency stocks also saw increases: HYBE rose 14.25%, JYP Ent. rose 11.16%, SM rose 8.9%, and YG Entertainment rose 5.97% over the same period. Lee Jaewon, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, stated, “Given that China is planning large-scale tour concerts with K-pop idols in the second half of 2025, the Hanban rule has effectively been lifted.” This marks the first time major K-pop concerts have been permitted in China in nine years, since the country imposed the Hanban rule in 2016 in response to the deployment of THAAD systems by U.S. forces in South Korea. In fact, the “2025 Dream Concert,” South Korea’s longest-running K-pop festival, is set to be held at Sanya Sports Stadium in Hainan Province in September, with around 40,000 seats available. This will be the first time a K-pop concert advertisement is broadcast on Chinese television, bringing the news directly to Chinese audiences. Prior to this, the K-pop boy group EPEX will hold a solo concert in Fuzhou, China, on May 31—the first time a Korean-born K-pop idol has performed there in nearly nine years since the Hanban rule took effect. While smaller fan meetings and autograph sessions have occurred previously, concerts with over 10,000 seats had not been approved during that time. Hainan is currently a region where the Chinese government is actively promoting cultural and tourism development. With increasing inflow of K-pop content centered around Sanya, there is growing interest in whether it could become a “second Hallyu hub.” As cross-Korean cultural exchanges resume, the extensive promotion of large-scale K-pop concerts across Chinese television networks is seen as a signal of warming diplomatic relations and a catalyst for deeper cultural interaction.