
HONG KONG (Nikkei Markets) -- Online publisher China Literature, a subsidiary of internet services major Tencent Holdings, unveiled plans to boost advertising revenue with a free reading application after suffering a decline in users for its paid reading app last year.
The Shanghai-based company, which connects more than 200 million readers with writers and other partners who adapt original content for TV or web shows, films and games in an online ecosystem, plans to roll out the new app in the second quarter. The move is an attempt to blunt competition from other free reading and pirate platforms, which operate without intellectual property rights, according to company executives.