Tencent has plenty in store for online video fans

A still from the Legend of Fuyao [Photo provided to China Daily]

The growing viewing rate of the animation has boosted Tencent's confidence and it plans to expand the domain of The King's Avatar.

Next year, the online video platform will present a self-produced drama series of the same name, in which Chinese actor Yang Yang will play the lead role.

The story is about a top esports player who stages a comeback with his teammates after being kicked out from a club.

Sun Zhonghuai, vice-president of Tencent Holding Ltd, says "high-quality, highly-praised videos with high viewing rates" are the platform's key to winning the largest share in the paid-for-content market.

He adds that this is the reason why Tencent has spared no effort to collaborate with famous writers and produce their works.

Tencent is producing a drama series based on Sha Hai ("sea of sand") by Xu Lei, who is better known by his pseudonym Nanpai Sanshu.

The novel is a sequel to Xu's best-seller The Grave Robbers' Chronicles.

Xu, 35, who is supervising the visual effects and postproduction of the drama, says: "I hope the series comes up to my expectations."

Chinese best-selling author Ma Li, better known by his pseudonym Ma Boyong, will also see his novel San Guo Ji Mi ("secrets of the three kingdoms") brought to the screen by Tencent.

To target a wider audience, Tencent is working on a number of new cultural programs. The Book of Fate, for instance, will get its break next year.

The online program will feature Mahua FunAge, one of China's most popular comedy troupes, as it stages performances based on plots from books like A Brief History of Humankind and The Three-Body Problem.

According to Wang Juan, the chief editor of Tencent's online video unit, up to September, the number of its paid users on the streaming platforms has crossed 43 million.

"Pay-to-watch is providing the momentum for good video content, while the rise in the number of paid users is the result of plentiful videos of high quality," she says.