Hongguo VIP payment service became a trending topic on Weibo today, with the service priced at 260 yuan for an annual membership, 30 yuan per month, and 7 yuan for a weekly pass.

Li Liang, Vice President of Douyin Group, responded late last night on social media, stating that Hongguo Short Drama has gradually introduced some film and television content. In accordance with compliance requirements from relevant copyright holders and industry practices, a small portion of this content requires a VIP subscription to access.

Customer service representatives from Hongguo Short Drama clarified that only a very limited number of movies and TV shows on the platform require a VIP membership to view. This viewing rule has been in place since the platform's launch and is not a recent adjustment. All short drama content remains available for free viewing.

Multiple users have reported that certain content on the Hongguo platform now requires a VIP membership to watch. For example, the movie "Young Days" is currently limited to a 6-minute preview for non-subscribers.

Many users feel that Hongguo's "free image" has collapsed. Some users have also pointed out that Hongguo's membership price is higher than those of the three major video platforms, and there are no discounts for annual auto-renewal subscriptions.

Users are concerned that the term "very limited amount" might just be the beginning. One user commented dismissively on Hongguo's response, suggesting that platforms like iQiyi, Youku, Tencent Video, Mango TV, and Bilibili all started with only a small portion of content requiring VIP access. They speculated whether the introduction of VIP might eventually lead to even higher-tier SVIP subscriptions.

Hongguo Short Drama experienced rapid growth starting in 2024, initially promoting itself with the message "Hongguo is free; you can find almost all short dramas on the market here, and they are clear, official versions." Not only was the platform free, but it also used incentives like "check in for 7 days to receive cash, withdraw up to 4.79 yuan" and "earn coins by watching short dramas and then withdraw them" to entice users to stay on the platform.

In reality, the two user agreements currently implemented by the Hongguo Short Drama platform do contain clauses related to paid services. The February 2024 version of the "Hongguo Short Drama Member Service Agreement" states that the membership service is a paid service provided by the platform, and users must pay the corresponding fees according to the pricing standards to use it. The platform may modify and change the service's pricing standards, payment methods, and related benefit details based on overall planning.

The September 2025 version of the "Hongguo Short Drama User Agreement" clearly stipulates that the platform has the right to decide whether "Hongguo Short Drama" charges fees, as well as the specific charging methods and fee standards, based on its own operational strategy. It also reserves the right to adjust the fee policy at any time according to business development and changes in laws and regulations.

When asked if the proportion of VIP content on Hongguo Short Drama would increase in the future, the platform did not respond.

Another criticized issue is that Hongguo Short Drama's VIP membership fee is considered relatively high. Some consumers find the price too expensive, especially compared to the major platforms, and note the lack of discounts.

Currently, Hongguo Short Drama's 12-month membership package costs 260 yuan. In comparison, iQiyi's Gold VIP annual auto-renewal is priced at 238 yuan; Youku VIP's first-year promotional price for annual auto-renewal is 118 yuan, reverting to 238 yuan annually thereafter; Tencent Video VIP's first-year promotional price for annual auto-renewal is 158 yuan, also reverting to 238 yuan annually.

Industry analysts believe that once users become accustomed to free services and competitors are squeezed out, the definition of "very limited amount" will no longer be up to the users. They express hope that Hongguo's "very limited" truly remains so.

Why is there a focus on implementing charges now? Beijing Bimo Liuxiang Technology Co., Ltd., the company behind Hongguo Short Drama, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beijing Douyin Information Service Co., Ltd. Recently, it was also announced that Doubao, another product under the same parent company, will release a paid version of its large model.

Recently, a service announcement for a paid version appeared on the Doubao App Store page. Doubao stated that the free version will be permanently retained, and the paid service is a value-added offering primarily targeting professional/heavy productivity scenarios—such as creating complex PPTs, deep data analysis, intensive reading of long documents, HD batch image generation, priority response, and dedicated customer service.

Some users have raised doubts, citing instances where Doubao provided multiple answers to a single question, questioning whether its core capabilities have reached a level justifying charging.

Currently, Doubao's officially disclosed pricing is divided into three tiers: Standard版 at 68 yuan/month or 688 yuan/year (sufficient for daily advanced functions); Enhanced版 at 200 yuan/month or 2048 yuan/year (high-frequency image/video/long document generation); and Professional版 at 500 yuan/month or 5088 yuan/year (for team/professional productivity).

With Hongguo starting VIP content charges and Doubao launching a paid version, why are ByteDance's products choosing to open the door to paid services at this moment?

Reports citing informed sources suggest that ByteDance's net profit in 2025 decreased by over 70% year-on-year, with the net profit margin significantly contracting. The core reason is attributed to the company's substantial increase in resource investment in the artificial intelligence field during the third and fourth quarters of 2025, which directly impacted full-year profitability. The report stated that to support the training and inference needs of its Doubao large model and multimodal AI products, ByteDance significantly increased AI-related investments in the second half of 2025, covering high-end AI chip procurement, underlying model R&D, and other core areas. These massive expenditures directly led to the more than 70% year-on-year decline in net profit.

In response, Douyin Group Vice President Li Liang stated that the reported 70% decline in ByteDance's net profit was based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) figures. Besides increased investment in emerging businesses, factors like changes in preferred stock and option costs (which do not reflect operational substance) were involved. In reality, due to slowing growth in Douyin E-commerce and increased investment in emerging businesses, the operating profit margin saw a slight decline in the second half of the year, but far less severe than reported. Excluding the impact of preferred stock and option cost changes, overall revenue and profit still grew, and trends for TikTok's e-commerce business and emerging businesses remain positive.

In fact, ByteDance's investment in the AI sector is set to continue increasing. The company communicated to shareholders that technological resource investment in 2026 will be further expanded. Coupled with supporting investments related to overseas market compliance, the short-term net profit margin is expected to remain under pressure. Previously, foreign media reported that ByteDance's total capital expenditure in 2026 will continue to grow, with over half specifically allocated for the procurement of AI processors and related infrastructure construction.

Analysts believe that against the backdrop of heavy spending on AI hardware, profits will naturally be burdened. However, any commercial company pursues profitability, and any business that cannot be commercialized is ultimately unsustainable.