IPTV firm Joost enters China, sets up joint venture

London-based Joost launched a Chinese service with local portal TOM Online to tap the world's largest online market, an AFP report said.

The company has also set up a joint venture with Hong Kong-listed TOM Group, parent of TOM Online, to bring a full Joost offering to China, Joost said in a statement.

"There's a great market opportunity in China: content producers who are making high-quality content, advertisers eager to reach consumers online, and an active online community," Joost CEO Mike Volpi, quoted by the AFP report, said.

"Collaborating with TOM, which operates one of the most popular online portals in China, positions us strongly in the region," he said in the statement.

Both Joost and TOM would primarily source programming from within China and distribute it domestically and abroad, the companies said.

TOM has sourced about 16,000 hours of Chinese programming for Joost from content providers such as China Central Television, China Record Corporation, and CAV Warner Home Entertainment, they said. China's online population is now the largest in the world.