Beijing – September 08, 2026 -- The Early Spring, a workplace romance produced by Youku, Alibaba's online video platform, has reached No. 2 on Netflix's Global Non-English TV list for the week of Aug. 24-30, the highest-ever ranking for a Chinese mainland drama on the chart.
Series logs 21.5 million viewing hours in just five days
The 24-episode drama premiered simultaneously on Youku and Netflix on Aug. 26. Despite being available for only five days during the tracking period, it recorded 2.4 million views and 21.5 million hours viewed on Netflix.
Drama enters Netflix Top 10 in 22 markets across four continents
The Early Spring ranked among Netflix's weekly Top 10 in 22 markets, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Venezuela and Qatar. It topped weekly TV charts in China's Hong Kong and Taiwan regions, Thailand and Vietnam.
Series climbs to No. 6 on Netflix's global daily chart within two days
Within two days of its premiere, the show reached No. 6 on Netflix's global daily chart and entered the daily Top 10 in 54 countries and regions. It topped daily charts in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and China's Hong Kong and Taiwan regions, while securing the No. 2 spot in Brazil.
Jing Boran and Sun Qian lead cast in secret office romance plot
The series stars Jing Boran as Luke Luan, a sharp-tongued creative director, and Sun Qian as Flora Shang, a newcomer to the corporate world, whose growing relationship develops into a secret office romance.
Youku's original slate shows strong summer momentum across genres
The Early Spring's performance comes amid a strong summer season for Youku's original dramas. Crime thriller Unsettled Case received a 7.6 rating on Chinese review platform Douban, while mystery-adventure series The Mystic Nine surpassed 10,000 on Youku's heat index within 50 hours of its premiere. The Early Spring surpassed 10,000 on the platform's heat index within three days of its own premiere.
Prior Youku romance titles built sustained international audiences
Hidden Love, released in 2023, appeared on Netflix's weekly charts across multiple markets for a cumulative 53 weeks. The First Frost, released in 2025, reached No. 6 on Netflix's global daily chart and topped rankings in China's Hong Kong and Taiwan regions, and Singapore.