Not everything is deadpan when China's leaders meet in a top-level gathering as serious as the annual legislators' and political advisors' conference.

Not when it comes to soap.

Delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing spent one whole morning debating why the Koreans have overtaken the Chinese in the quality and popularity of soap operas they produce. 

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They belabored the fact that even Chinese audiences have become more hooked on Korean dramas than on their own homegrown entertainment, a situation which deals a blow on the socio-cultural confidence of a country that has long considered itself as the origin and influencer of East Asian culture.

At the center of the animated discussion was the recent success of "You who came from the stars," a Korean drama about an alien who accidentally came down to earth and fell in love with a female pop star. The feel-good soap was a top favorite in China and elsewhere in Asia, garnering 2.5 billion views online.

The Korean soap was so popular that the "beer and fried chicken" line uttered by its lead character in one episode instantly became a household byword.  One restaurant even began offering beer and chicken on its menu.

Reports also have it that a pregnant viewer from Jiangsu almost miscarried after many nights of watching the Korean drama while she binged on beer and chicken.

In 2008, American-produced "Kung Fu Panda" became such a runaway hit in China that pundits started to question why foreign entertainment producers seem to have a better feel for what would cater to Chinese viewers.

Conference delegates representing the culture and entertainment industry had their fingers on the answer: China's system of censorship.

"My heart trembles when waiting for a movie to go through this rigorous censoring procedure," said Feng Xiaogang, a famous director and CPPCC member. 

"My wings and imagination are all broken," said one comedian delegate without going into further detail.

A most surprising comment came from the Communist Party's top graftbuster: "Korean drama is ahead of us," said Wang Qishan in one of the legislative meetings.

Wang heads the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that is in-charge of an ongoing anti-corruption campaign.  He is known to be an avid fan of the Netflix drama, "House of Cards."

Rather than resenting Korean soaps' dominance of Chinese pop culture as many of his colleagues do, Wang said Chinese tradition and culture are actually imbedded in Korean dramas.

"The core and soul of the Korean soap opera is a distillation of traditional Chinese culture," Wang said. "It just propagates traditional Chinese culture in the form of a TV drama."