(Yicai Global) June 16 -- Video-streaming website operator Youku Tudou, a unit of Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group Holding, said it will hike VIP membership fees for the first time in five years. Rivals Tencent Video and iQiyi already raised them over the past year and a half.

Youku will increase its VIP fees by between 20 percent and 40 percent on June 21, the Beijing-based firm announced on Weibo yesterday. Ongoing monthly membership will cost CNY25 (USD3.73), up from CNY19, in line with similar services offered by Tencent Video and iQiyi.

Tencent Video hiked VIP membership charges in April this year and last year, while iQiyi did last December and in November 2020.

After upping the fees, iQiyi had its first quarterly profit since the Nasdaq-listed company was formed 12 years ago. Net profit was CNY169.1 million (USD25.3 million) in the first quarter of this year, versus a net loss of CNY1.3 billion (USD190 million) a year earlier, per its earnings report released on May 26.

Founded in 2006, Youku listed on New York Stock Exchange in 2010, becoming the first Chinese video-streaming platform to go public. It merged with Tudou.Com in 2012. Alibaba bought Youku in April 2016 for USD4.7 billion and delisted the business from the NYSE.

Alibaba did not provide detailed operating data for Youku in its latest financial statement, but said the website’s average daily paid users jumped 14 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31 from a year earlier and narrowed its net loss through prudent investment and improved operations.

Editor: Futura Costaglione