SM Entertainment forms China joint venture with Tencent Music
STE CEO and Super Junior-M member Zhoumi / Courtesy of SM Entertainment
Korean K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment has announced a joint venture with Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) as it seeks to expand its presence in Chinese-speaking markets.
The new Beijing-based company, named STE, will develop and manage Chinese artists, SM said Thursday.
Zhoumi, a member of Super Junior-M, Super Junior's China-based unit, has been appointed chief executive of the venture.
SM said the partnership followed a memorandum of understanding signed with Tencent Music Entertainment in May in a move aimed at stepping up the expansion of its influence in the Chinese-speaking entertainment markets.
STE will launch a new Chinese idol group within two to three years, according to SM. For this, the venture will run auditions to recruit members and oversee the group's management in China after its debut.
The company will also support the activities of SM artists from Chinese-speaking regions, including NCT Dream's Renjun and WayV members Yangyang and Xiaojun.
"We will present differentiated content and create meaningful results as a bridge between the two companies by combining SM's strengths in intellectual property and content production with an understanding of the Chinese-speaking entertainment markets," Zhoumi said in a release.