Online video service Netflix is hoping to dip a toe into China as a way of addressing stalling growth in its main market, the United States.
It is part of plans to expand to as many as 200 countries over the next two years. Currently it operates in 50 countries.
Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings said it would initially be a “modest” move in China using its original TV series and licensed content.
He acknowledged it is not “100 percent clear” they would get permission to do that.
“For every country we know what we want to do, but in China we are still exploring our options,” Hastings said.
“We’ll learn a great deal if we can successfully operate a small service in China…That is our preference, for the next few years, if we are able to acquire the necessary permissions,” he added.
Analysts point out the country is not easy for foreign firms, with Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter all blocked there and Chinese online giants like Tencent and Alibaba spending hundreds
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