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Baidu, China's largest search engine, offers a free music streaming service and a paid-for tier offering expanded cloud storage space and high-quality larger files. Like Kuwo Music, the vast majority of Baidu's users choose the free-to-consumer option.

Kaiser Kuo, director of international communications at Baidu, says: "Baidu has an ad-funded model and our core strategy is based on online advertising and dominating consumers' main points of entry to the Internet."

The largest digital service is China Mobile, with 700 million users in total and 50 million active paying ring tone customers. In addition, there are 20 million paying subscribers to the operator's subscription and limited-download music service, Migu Music.

"It is not just recording companies and musicians in China who want to get to this paid-for model - it's the objective of the operators, too," says Liu Yuxing, assistant of the general manager of China Mobile Music Base.

The Chinese government has given support to the paid model. "The time for paying for music in China has already come. This is not just a principle, but also a necessary practice," says Yan Xiaohong, vice-minister of the National Copyright Administration of China. "But what is also important is that, whichever way we choose, whether it be the paid or advertising-supported model, we must make sure that rights holders are rewarded."

Yan also says the government has stepped up actions both in enforcement and promoting consumer awareness of intellectual property rights.

"Nine years ago when I started in this role, we were talking about copyright theoretically but since then dramatic changes have happened. Criminal penalties for copyright infringement have been strengthened and enforcement against illegal sites intensified," Yan says.