Netflix has bought the rights to “I Hear You,” a romantic comedy TV show produced by Alibaba’s Youku video service, which is similar to its US peer. Netflix will start streaming the show’s 24 episodes in 190 countries and regions from May 15, Bloomberg reports.
The US streaming giant is investing in content to appeal to Chinese speakers and sinophiles around the world. To date, it has acquired the global digital rights (outside of China) to “Day and Night,” a detective thriller also produced by Youku, and the hit Chinese sci-fi film “The Wandering Earth.”
Netflix’s rights investments come amid a broader effort by China to boost its global appeal, in part via cultural productions like film and TV.
Approximately 60 million people of ethnic Chinese birth or descent living outside of Mainland China, according to government statistics cited by Bloomberg. Netflix, meanwhile, had close to 119 million paying members in Q1 2019.