Rather than the quality of C-dramas in general, I think what they're improving is the quality of IDOL c-dramas (Boss and Me, My Sunshine, WuXin, Love Me if You Dare), or inserting idols to quality dramas they're making (Hu Ge in NiF, Wallace in Battle of Changsha and The Great Protector) to increase marketability. I believe there're many good Cdramas in the past as well, sadly we just don't know about them. We international fans are only exposed to idol c-dramas because, well, they have idols --> huge domestic/international fanbase --> their dramas most likely get subbed. And most of the time idol c-dramas don't really excel in any front compare to its Korean and Japanese counterpart: they have mind-numbing silly plot and mediocre-at-best-mostly-laughable acting. So there's an impression that idols aren't given roles in quality dramas since those idols aren't able to carry it anyway. In the end, international fans can only judge that Cdramas have the lowest production value compare to J and Kdramas
I don't know if this trend will continue, since they did have the momentum with Bu Bu Jing Xin and Legend of Zhen Huan yet somehow the ripple didn't last in the following years. I'm optimistic though because the recent improvements are made by the same production company (Boss & Me and My Sunshine are from the same company (I forgot the name); NiF, BoF, and LMiYD are made by Shanying), I hope they will continue to make dramas with the same caliber.
Also, now there are tons of drama streaming and blogging sites in the internet so people are easily exposed to any drama from any country, and people actually use these sites as their source of dramas. Without having to specifically looking for a chinese dramas people can stumble accidentally while they're looking references for Japanese or Korean dramas. So yes, with the help of internet and improvement in quality, c-dramas ARE getting more recognition among international fans nowadays.
The thing is, most people are here checking on new and top rated dramas and such because of kdramas are such a hit in the first place. Even now the top c-dramas in MDL are only voted by a mere
hundreds, compare to k-dramas (rom-com, to be exact) that easily gained
thousand of votes. Subbing is still scarce too. Also, K, J, and C-dramas each has their own style. As you can see yourself it's not like people who love recent c-dramas hit are no longer watching kdramas, they simply recognize that there are good, watchable c-dramas, and maybe tuning in for the next offering. Rather than more people watching more cdramas and less kdramas, it's more like more people are watching k AND cdramas. After all, these dramas are easily available in internet so you can watch them anytime you want, no need to sacrifice one drama to another.
