With 6.4 million authors, Chinese online publisher models itself after Disney and Marvel
The company models partially after Marvel and Disney, but the difference is it will partner with others to develop and market products for IP that it owns
China Literature, a unit of Tencent Holdings and China’s largest e-book and online publishing website, is banking on developing and marketing its massive pool of intellectual property at home and abroad to help it become a combination of the Walt Disney Company and Marvel Entertainment.
“We are the biggest owner of intellectual property (IP) in China, but that’s not the end of the story,” said vice-president Luo Li in Hong Kong on Thursday.
“We want to put more focus on developing, marketing, and distributing the IP we own and promoting them to domestic and global audience.”
Luo said the company would build itself to be a cross between Marvel Studios and its parent company, Disney, which are renown for creating characters and monetising them through franchises in animation, television shows, films and other entertainment products, as well as selling these IP rights globally.
China Literature’s ambitious drive comes close in the heels of its successful listing in Hong Kong early last month. The US$1.06 billion initial public offer – Hong Kong’s hottest in a decade – drew an oversubscription of 625 times, locking in more than HK$520 billion (US$66.6 billion) of capital as investors were keen to get a slice of the firm, which could become an internet star like its parent.