Victor Koo (left), chief executive of Youku, and Gary Wang, founder and CEO of Tudou, at the cooperation agreement signing ceremony held yesterday in Beijing. The two firms will share soap-opera videos resources. File Photo

Former rivals lock arms in effort to fend off new market players

Two major video-sharing websites reached an unusual deal yesterday, agreeing to share a portion of their video libraries with each other, as part of an effort to fend off new competition from new market players.

Former rivals Youku and Tudou, China's two largest Youtube-like sites, said they have agreed to share soap-opera videos that previously streamed exclusively on their separate websites.

The two firms, which account for about 80 percent of China's online-video market, also announced they will unite in the purchase of new, copyrighted video content.

"From a traditional point of view we are enemies, or at least competitors," said Victor Koo, chief executive of Youku. "But we hope we can formulate a business model from which both of us can benefit."

The agreement comes at a time when newcomers are reshaping the online video landscape. Over the last few months, Chinese Internet giants Baidu, Alibaba and Sohu as well as State-run-media groups have announced plans to enter the online video market, putting new pressures on the dominant market leaders.