Characters from China needlessly silly (5)
I believe the answer is:
inane
'silly' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'characters from china needlessly' is the wordplay.
'characters from' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'INANE' is hidden in the letters of 'china needlessly'.
(Other definitions for inane that I've seen before include "Empty" , "Devoid of intelligence" , "Idiotic" , "Stupid and silly" , "Silly, fatuous" .)