# Sword Rose (利刃玫瑰)
**Sword Rose** (利剑·玫瑰, also written 利剑玫瑰) is a 2025 Chinese crime drama about anti-trafficking police work, starring [Dilraba Dilmurat](https://www.edgepedia.org/dilraba-dilmurat) as the anti-trafficking officer Deng Yan. It premiered in the CCTV-8 prime-time slot on July 28, 2025, with simultaneous streaming on [Tencent Video](https://www.edgepedia.org/tencent-video) and iQIYI, and was described by reviewers as the first Chinese television series to focus systematically on combating the trafficking of women and children.[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35597542/?from=subject-page) • [2](https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/7931690445/1d8c3fdcd00101sfcy?froms=ggmp) • [3](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/tw/culture/filmandmusic/a65534795/sword-rose-highlights/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | July 28, 2025, CCTV-8 prime time, also on Tencent Video and iQIYI; a July 12 date had earlier been announced[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35597542/?from=subject-page) • [2](https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/7931690445/1d8c3fdcd00101sfcy?froms=ggmp) • [4](https://feeds-drcn.cloud.huawei.com.cn/landingpage/latest?channel=all&cpid=666&ctype=news&docid=105106731934604202202953&dy_scenario=relate&r=CN&tn=af41e16b4ce890dedef0b1edf770405d23d4b5055da675e15be71f61398c32fa&to_app=hwbrowser) |
| Episodes | 32 per Douban and TVCat listings; some pre-broadcast listings gave 33[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35597542/?from=subject-page) • [5](https://www.tvmao.com/drama/ZW4pY2pf) • [4](https://feeds-drcn.cloud.huawei.com.cn/landingpage/latest?channel=all&cpid=666&ctype=news&docid=105106731934604202202953&dy_scenario=relate&r=CN&tn=af41e16b4ce890dedef0b1edf770405d23d4b5055da675e15be71f61398c32fa&to_app=hwbrowser) |
| Lead cast | Dilraba Dilmurat as Deng Yan, Jin Shijia as Chang Rui, You Yongzhi as Yin Jiansheng[5](https://www.tvmao.com/drama/ZW4pY2pf) |
| Basis | Adapted from 37 real trafficking cases cracked by the Ministry of Public Security between 2018 and 2023[6](https://www.sohu.com/a/925459242_122476682) |
| Ratings | Douban 6.9 from 265,215 ratings; CCTV-8 average rating 1.608% over its first eight episodes[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35597542/?from=subject-page) • [7](https://www.nrta.gov.cn/art/2025/8/6/art_114_71240.html) |
| Public-service element | Each episode ends with real missing-children information, in conjunction with the "Baby Come Home" (宝贝回家) project[6](https://www.sohu.com/a/925459242_122476682) • [8](https://wenyi.neamco.com/2025-08/12/content_38214287.htm) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and production
The story is set in 2009, before China's anti-trafficking search networks had the big-data tools, high-definition camera coverage, road-network controls, and missing-persons databases available later. Deng Yan, a policewoman who had served at the provincial department, is assigned to the anti-trafficking office of the Linshan City public security bureau, where she works with deputy office head Yin Jiansheng and officer Chang Rui, a trio the publicity calls the "anti-trafficking iron triangle." The series follows their investigation of trafficking cases and the dismantling of a trafficking network.[9](https://www.xinhuanet.com/ent/20250801/992c96ce46774711a15f540a0bbd5717/c.html)
Deng Yan's obsession with the work is rooted in her childhood: she witnessed her childhood friend Ranran being abducted, an unresolved trauma that drives her career. In the opening episodes she herself is nearly seized by a trafficking organization, an episode reviewers read as a deliberate signal that even a capable policewoman is vulnerable, and by extension that schoolgirls and young children are far more so.[3](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/tw/culture/filmandmusic/a65534795/sword-rose-highlights/) • [9](https://www.xinhuanet.com/ent/20250801/992c96ce46774711a15f540a0bbd5717/c.html)
**Credits.** The series was directed by Su Wancong with co-director Li Jinrui, with Geng Huidong as chief screenwriter; Douban credits Li Jinrui as director with a large writing team led by Huidong. The production team interviewed dozens of anti-trafficking police officers in Guizhou, Yunnan, and other regions and conducted field visits to reproduce settings.[4](https://feeds-drcn.cloud.huawei.com.cn/landingpage/latest?channel=all&cpid=666&ctype=news&docid=105106731934604202202953&dy_scenario=relate&r=CN&tn=af41e16b4ce890dedef0b1edf770405d23d4b5055da675e15be71f61398c32fa&to_app=hwbrowser) • [1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35597542/?from=subject-page) • [3](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/tw/culture/filmandmusic/a65534795/sword-rose-highlights/)
### Narrative approach
**Structure.** The 32 episodes contain 37 cases, organized along two parallel lines: the investigators' pursuit of a complete criminal chain, from child selling to the gray trade in trafficked women, and a portrait of victims' families at different stages of searching for missing relatives, centered on a volunteer gathering place called the Reunion Diner (团圆小馆). Reviewers described this multi-threaded structure as uncommon in Chinese crime dramas and noted the restrained treatment: the series avoids amplifying sensationalism or dwelling on victims' suffering, instead letting the two victim groups reveal the trafficking chains behind them.[10](https://wap.zhengguannews.cn/html/zgh/350888.html)
**Female perspective.** The series departs from the male-dominated framing typical of the genre by building its main line around Deng Yan and other women, and by showing police work alongside civilian participation: volunteers, a lawyer named Sun Wenhan who searched ten years for his own son, and ordinary people who run the Reunion Diner. A [People's Daily](https://www.edgepedia.org/peoples-daily) review argued that these organic social networks supplement the judicial viewpoint and broaden the audience's understanding of anti-trafficking as a shared social effort.[10](https://wap.zhengguannews.cn/html/zgh/350888.html) • [9](https://www.xinhuanet.com/ent/20250801/992c96ce46774711a15f540a0bbd5717/c.html) • [11](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/pc/attachement/202508/12/ce46e15b-85d8-4153-9c03-d054a795a838.pdf)
## Real cases and subject matter
The drama draws on 37 real trafficking cases solved by the [Ministry of Public Security](https://www.edgepedia.org/ministry-of-public-security) between 2018 and 2023, including the Yu Huaying trafficking case, an "elevator baby abduction" case, cross-border trafficking of young women, and links to drug networks. Reviewers noted that the depicted methods of traffickers, such as posing as a nanny to approach children, luring female college students under pretexts, using children as bait, and staging car accidents to distract victims, mirror documented tactics.[6](https://www.sohu.com/a/925459242_122476682) • [3](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/tw/culture/filmandmusic/a65534795/sword-rose-highlights/) • [10](https://wap.zhengguannews.cn/html/zgh/350888.html)
The series also depicts the social environment around trafficking: clan forces shielding traffickers, families selling children, and victims' families being defrauded by fake tipsters, in one case losing 200,000 yuan and the family home. Critics highlighted its refusal to humanize traffickers through sympathetic backstories; the trafficker "Auntie Hong" is shaped by a family that valued sons over daughters, but the story states plainly that hardship is not an excuse for wrongdoing.[2](https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/7931690445/1d8c3fdcd00101sfcy?froms=ggmp) • [9](https://www.xinhuanet.com/ent/20250801/992c96ce46774711a15f540a0bbd5717/c.html) • [8](https://wenyi.neamco.com/2025-08/12/content_38214287.htm)
## Reception and ratings
**Television.** The series opened strongly on CCTV-8: within 36 minutes of its first broadcast the real-time rating rose past 2%, and the second episode peaked at 3.3481%, described as a 2025 record for a new CCTV-8 series. The National Radio and Television Administration's CVB report recorded an average rating of 1.608% per episode over the first eight episodes, with every episode in the top three among all satellite channels in the same time slot, and a full-run average of 1.714%. Kuyun data put the peak rating above 2.55% with a market share of up to 18.3%, and the finale night peaked at 2.55%.[12](https://ent.sina.cn/2026-02-17/detail-inhnceii9099342.d.html?vt=4) • [7](https://www.nrta.gov.cn/art/2025/8/6/art_114_71240.html) • [6](https://www.sohu.com/a/925459242_122476682)
**Streaming.** Cumulative plays across platforms exceeded 1.692 billion, averaging 52 million per episode, and Tencent Video's in-platform heat value peaked at 27,082, with iQIYI heat at 8,028. The series ranked tenth on Tencent Video's 2025 annual heat-value list, and CVB placed it among the CCTV-8 premieres in the top 35 of the 2025 annual drama ratings table. By its first anniversary in July 2026, Maoyan counted over 1.194 billion effective plays, 36 broadcast honors, and one award nomination.[12](https://ent.sina.cn/2026-02-17/detail-inhnceii9099342.d.html?vt=4) • [13](https://www.nrta.gov.cn/art/2025/12/26/art_114_72192.html) • [14](https://www.sina.cn/news/detail/5325442937526716.html)
**Critical scores.** Douban settled at 6.9 from 265,215 ratings, while Tencent Video users rated it 9.7 from over 900,000 raters, a split commentators attributed partly to rating manipulation. During the broadcast, Douban reviews showed anomalies consistent with AI-generated reviews and fan-club score manipulation on both the positive and negative sides; one entertainment report said the score initially reached 8.1 before falling to 6.4 after fake reviews were cleaned up, and the series received no nominations in major award cycles, in part because its broadcast dates fell outside the Feitian Awards evaluation window.[1](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35597542/?from=subject-page) • [15](https://www.gamersky.com/news/202606/2161262.shtml) • [16](https://www.yzwb.net/news/wy/202508/t20250806_246386.html) • [17](https://yule.360.com/detail/5085829) • [18](https://ent.sina.cn/2026-10-01/detail-inittvfz6421969.d.html)
## Social impact
The broadcast turned anti-trafficking into a widely discussed public topic. Each episode's closing credits roll real missing-children information from the Ministry of Public Security, and the series was linked with the "Baby Come Home" project, which produced tens of thousands of search-and-reunion tip responses. Viewers posted slogans such as "children are not commodities" and "may there be no trafficking under heaven" in bullet comments. A People's Daily review connected the series to public attention on cases such as the Yu Huaying and Zhang Weiping cases, and to the broader question of addressing the social roots of trafficking; the review also noted that modern techniques such as big-data analysis and surveillance appear alongside older methods, showing that the work remains difficult even with technological progress.[6](https://www.sohu.com/a/925459242_122476682) • [8](https://wenyi.neamco.com/2025-08/12/content_38214287.htm) • [10](https://wap.zhengguannews.cn/html/zgh/350888.html) • [11](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/pc/attachement/202508/12/ce46e15b-85d8-4153-9c03-d054a795a838.pdf)
## References
1. [利剑·玫瑰 (2025), Douban](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35597542/?from=subject-page)
2. [《利剑玫瑰》今日开播，聚焦打拐震撼来袭, Sina Finance](https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/7931690445/1d8c3fdcd00101sfcy?froms=ggmp)
3. [陸劇《利劍玫瑰》線上看8亮點, Harper's Bazaar Taiwan](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/tw/culture/filmandmusic/a65534795/sword-rose-highlights/)
4. [电视剧《利剑玫瑰》定档0712, Huawei feed](https://feeds-drcn.cloud.huawei.com.cn/landingpage/latest?channel=all&cpid=666&ctype=news&docid=105106731934604202202953&dy_scenario=relate&r=CN&tn=af41e16b4ce890dedef0b1edf770405d23d4b5055da675e15be71f61398c32fa&to_app=hwbrowser)
5. [利剑玫瑰剧情介绍, TVCat](https://www.tvmao.com/drama/ZW4pY2pf)
6. [迪丽热巴、金世佳领衔《利剑·玫瑰》收官热度不减, Sohu](https://www.sohu.com/a/925459242_122476682)
7. [《浴血荣光》《扫毒风暴》《歌手2025》领跑黄金档, NRTA](https://www.nrta.gov.cn/art/2025/8/6/art_114_71240.html)
8. [打拐故事如何牵动人心？, Guangming Wang](https://wenyi.neamco.com/2025-08/12/content_38214287.htm)
9. [打拐题材剧《利剑·玫瑰》登上收视排行首位, Xinhuanet/Beijing Evening News](https://www.xinhuanet.com/ent/20250801/992c96ce46774711a15f540a0bbd5717/c.html)
10. [热度与口碑双收，《利剑·玫瑰》引爆群体共鸣, Zhengguan News](https://wap.zhengguannews.cn/html/zgh/350888.html)
11. [拍出"打拐"故事的现实纵深, People's Daily](https://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/pc/attachement/202508/12/ce46e15b-85d8-4153-9c03-d054a795a838.pdf)
12. [电视剧《利剑·玫瑰》收视成绩, Sina](https://ent.sina.cn/2026-02-17/detail-inhnceii9099342.d.html?vt=4)
13. [《中国视听大数据（CVB）2025年国产电视剧收视报告》, NRTA](https://www.nrta.gov.cn/art/2025/12/26/art_114_72192.html)
14. [利剑玫瑰开播一周年, Sina/Maoyan](https://www.sina.cn/news/detail/5325442937526716.html)
15. [迪丽热巴《利剑・玫瑰》金橙评分断崖暴跌, GamerSky](https://www.gamersky.com/news/202606/2161262.shtml)
16. [打拐剧成武侠片？《利剑·玫瑰》豆瓣评论标注异常, Yangzi Evening News](https://www.yzwb.net/news/wy/202508/t20250806_246386.html)
17. [从8.1到6.4！《利剑玫瑰》评分大跳水, 360 Yule](https://yule.360.com/detail/5085829)
18. [《玫瑰的故事》什么时候播出？, Sina](https://ent.sina.cn/2026-10-01/detail-inittvfz6421969.d.html)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Chinese modern and contemporary drama › Premiered 2024 to 2026*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license