We know what Chinese users want

 Tudou.com CEO Wang Wei discusses the future of online video.

21ST Century talked to Wang Wei, CEO and founder of the popular video website Tudou.com. Wang, 35, left China after high school and later earned a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University in the US. In 2003, he returned to China to work as the executive manager of the Bertelsmann [Media] Group, China division. In 2005, he founded Tudou.com. Here, Wang talks about all that's behind the videos you watch on the Web.

21st: What kind of competition exists among video-sharing websites in China?

Wang: There are around 300 such sites in China, and the competition is fierce. This will lead to the death of many websites this year, I think. Many small ones, which do not have enough click-through rates (CTR) and money, will find it hard to survive. I think there are only three strong video websites in China – Tudou.com, 56.com and Youku.com. They take up 90 percent of the market. At present, most video websites can't make a profit, and we have to depend on venture capital. But last year, there was a significant increase in advertising income, which gave us hope for making money in the coming years.

21st: Government regulations say that, beginning at the end of January, all video websites in China should be State-owned, or owned by a State-controlled company. How will this affect Tudou.com?

Wang: In fact, we don't know the meaning of the new regulation clearly yet. We have to contact the government and get a clear message. Then we can work a way out.

21st: Copyright violations are a huge problem for video sharing websites. How do you regulate your site?

Wang: We do need popular movies and TV dramas to attract people as our users like them. But apart from banning the illegal ones, we need to deal with copyright problems positively. In fact, we can get copyrighted materials without paying money by cooperating with some TV stations and movie companies. For instance, one way is that they give us video content for free, and we share the advertising income.

21st: YouTube is a strong competitor. Chinese can upload or watch videos there. How do Chinese sites like yours compete with YouTube?

Wang: I think our big advantage is that we are standing on our turf. We know the market well. And we know clearly what Chinese people like. We understand their customs and tastes very well, so we can offer suitable content to them. On the other hand, YouTube is a very strong competitor. It is the top video-sharing website in the world. It has lots of money because Google, its mother company, can support it to do many things. It can buy copyrighted movies and music, for example. It also can choose to cooperate with movie companies and develop new and more advanced technology.

---------------------------------------
生词：
TV drama 电视剧

ban 禁令

click-through rate 点击率

venture capital 风险投资

significant 重大的




21世纪英文报系报纸订阅>>