Wasu Media Holding Co., the Chinese media company backed by Jack Ma, has held talks with Netflix Inc. as the broadcaster of “House of Cards” seeks to enter China’s $5.9 billion online video market.
While Wasu “has talked with Netflix recently,” it hasn’t reached any “solid agreements on cooperation or content,” the Chinese company said in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange on Monday. Wasu’s shares will resume trading in Shenzhen on Tuesday.
Netflix has held discussions with Chinese companies including Wasu, people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, climbed 4.5 percent to close at $613.25 in New York on Friday.
Entering China would let Netflix, the world’s biggest video-streaming service, take advantage of what’s forecast to be explosive growth in online TV. The market is estimated to almost triple to 90 billion yuan by 2018, according to Shanghai-based Internet consultant iResearch.
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