Eros elbows way into China through content licensing deal with iQiyi

Chinese viewers will be able to watch about 100 movies within the next month and increase to about 1,000 in the next year.

"We are targeting about $10 million in revenue in the first year through this deal," Eros International's Chief Executive Officer Kishore Lulla said in a interview.

Streaming services in China are subject to strict data storage regulations and foreign films and television are routinely censored, hindering companies such as Netflix and Amazon.com Inc's Prime from taking full advantage of the world's most populated country.

Foreign companies usually partner with a Chinese company to gain a foothold in the world's second-biggest economy.

"Until the whole regulatory environment changes in China, I want the Eros Now brand penetration within the Chinese audiences through this deal," Lulla said in an interview.

"Within the next 2-3 years, when the regulatory environment will allow Eros Now to be launched directly to the Chinese audiences, we will do that in a partnership with any of the online platforms in China," he said.

China has become an important market for the Indian film industry, the world's largest by output, and recent movies such as "Dangal" attracted a lot of attention in the country. iQiyi, which has around 500 million monthly active users and whose programming includes music reality show "The Rap of China" and crime drama "Burning Ice," listed on Nasdaq in March.