iQiyi: 'China's Netflix' to list on US stock market

Chinese video streaming service iQiyi - often called China's Netflix - has filed to be listed on the US stock market.

Owned by online giant Baidu, it plans to raise $1.5bn (£1.1bn) through an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.

iQiYi had more than 50 million subscribers by the end of 2017 and an average of more than 420 million mobile users per month, according to Reuters.

But while revenues have risen in recent years, iQiyi has never posted a profit since it launched in 2010.

In China, it competes with fellow streaming platforms Youku Tudou, which is owned by Alibaba, and Tencent Video.

In April 2017, iQiyi signed a licensing agreement with Netflix to steam some of the US provider's original content including Stranger Things and Black Mirror.

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iQiyi posted a net loss of 3.7bn yuan (£425m; $592m) for 2017 compared with 3.1bn yuan the previous year, though revenue jumped by 55% to 17.4bn yuan.

Baidu, which founded the business as Qiyi before later changing its name to iQiyi, is itself listed in the US.