Jet Li, a Chinese Kung Fu Champion and martial arts movie superstar, has launched an online video platform, Jetli.com, in an effort to nurture martial arts enthusiasts around the world as well as to gain entry into the growing sports sector in China.
Li announced the official launch of the video site on Saturday via his Weibo account. Operated by Shanghai-based Zaomengzhe Development Company, Jetli.com is an English website aimed at a global audience, featuring original content produced by an in-house team.
“I haven’t just created Jetli.com on a whim, it’s a continuation of a dream,” Li wrote in an earlier Weibo post. “Kung Fu isn’t just about punching, kicking, and self-defense, it’s about dedicating yourself to the pursuit of a goal. That’s Kung Fu.”
The website which translates into “Jie Li” meaning street power in Chinese, is set to feature content regarding Kung Fu as well as other martial arts including boxing, Taekwondo, and other combat sports.
Segments on the site currently include contents on traditional martial arts weapons and their modern-day benefits, female masters of Wuxia cinema, the history of Karate, Star Wars and martial arts, and even a story about the whitewashing issue in Hollywood.
Additionally, the website operated as a commercial entity established last April with RMB2 million (about US$280k) in registered capital will also feature an e-commerce section for the sale of martial arts-related merchandise.
Chinese investors have long embraced martial arts, pouring billions into sports ventures, as people in China is becoming more health-conscious.
According to data from ChinaVenture, a total of 63 investments with an aggregate deal value of RMB11 billion were recorded in the sports sector during the first half of 2016, up nearly 300% in terms of deal value compared to the RMB3.6 billion registered for all of 2015.
Among them, sports video took the largest share in terms of total deal value, driven by a RMB8.8 billion (about US$1.35 billion) series B round completed in April by LeSports, LeEco’s sports unit.
By Vivian Foo, VCNewsNetwork
