Hong Kong - The concert is scheduled for an informal ban on such performances in nearly a decade, and the concert is scheduled for the first time in mainland China's general practice k-pop band.

It's exciting news for fans like Haerin Ouyang, a college student in the coastal Chinese city of Rich City, a Korean boy band Epex originally scheduled to perform on Saturday.

But the show was cancelled less than two weeks after it was announced earlier this month, leaving Ouyang "heartbroken".

"The venue is only 10 minutes from my school, and it will be fun to go with friends," she said.

C9 Entertainment, which manages EPEX, quoted "local situation" when it announced its cancellation on May 9, and Dashing hopes China will open its doors to K-Pop programs for the first time since 2016.

The ban that China has never formally recognized began after South Korea announced the deployment of a U.S. anti-Malley missile defense system, which aims to limit its power in the region.

Before the ban, China was Asia's second largest music market, second only to Japan, and one of the fastest growing markets in K-Pop and other Korean pop culture, with its rapid growth in global popularity known as Korea Inspur or Hallyu.

"In the K-Content and K-Pop markets, consumer power in China is seen as the top stage," said Kang Soyoung, a professor at Seoul Digital University.

She said that since 2016, it is estimated that the Chinese ban will cost South Korea's economy nearly $16 billion.

But the cancellation of the EPEX concert does not necessarily reflect the official position of the Chinese government, Kang warned that China has been gradually reopening South Korean culture with years of tensions.

Although K-Pop's behavior has been blocked, other Korean bands are also allowed to play. In April, the Korean hip-hop trio and its first general practice performance in mainland China in eight years. A Korean musician based in South Korea performed in Chinese cities in late 2024 and early 2025 in Chinese cities, Wuhan and Zhengzhou.

A large-scale K-Pop concert is scheduled to be held in September at a 40,000-seat stadium in Hainan Province, China's island province. The Korean Entertainment Producers Association announced the event in April, but did not respond to an email asking if the concert was still going on.

Kang said she believes the Hallyu ban will be lifted soon and the Hainan concert will be "conducted without problems".

There are also signs of developing business connections. South Korean entertainment company Hybe, which manages the global K-Pop Sensation BTS, recently opened an office in Beijing, South Korean media said. On Friday, Hybe said in a regulatory filing that China's Tencent Music will become SM Entertainment, the second largest shareholder in other major K-Pop record company, which will sell its entire shares.

"This shows that there is greater opportunities for cooperation between the two countries, especially the entertainment industry," said Ellen Kim, director of academic affairs at the Korean Economic Research Institute. "This may be the starting point of industry-level cooperation and can open more doors between the two countries."

Diplomacy thaws beyond culture. China said in November it would grant visa waivers to South Korea, and South Korea said it would do the same for tourists from China.

Kim said China's friendliness to South Korea could be part of the unstable situation on the international stage. Both countries face increasingly hostile and unpredictable U.S. trade policies under President Donald Trump.

Additionally, China is struggling with weak domestic consumption, which will be helped by high-consumption fans of K-Pop.

Kang said China has also been strengthening its entertainment industry and has greater confidence in it.

"Now, it has strong resilience to the 'invasion' of foreign content," she said.

China’s potential melting of Korean entertainment is because it further limits the number of Hollywood movies screened in theaters in response to Trump’s tariffs.

South Korea relations in southern China can also be pushed from next week's South Korean presidential election. Leader Lee Jae-Myung is considered more friendly than his ex.

"If he wins, things may change, which could get Korean artists into the country and play music," Kim said.