(Yicai Global) May 25 -- NetEase plans to raise the proportion that overseas markets contribute to the Chinese internet giant’s online video games revenue to as much as half, according to founder William Ding.

Overseas markets currently account for more than 10 percent of NetEase’s gaming income, and the company aims to raise that to between 40 percent and 50 percent, Ding said on a first-quarter earnings conference call yesterday.

Ding, who is also chief executive of Hangzhou-based NetEase, is confident about expanding abroad. “Players, terminals, and games genres are very different from country to country, but this will not pose a huge challenge to NetEase,” he said, “as the firm can meet the demand of players in different areas in a short time.”

NetEase hopes to work with more outstanding teams overseas and jointly develop game content with them, he also noted.

Regarding the Chinese market, Ding said he believed that government regulation will support the growth of the gaming sector, bringing positive energy.

After suspending licensing for new online games last July, China’s media watchdog introduced new rules the following month to curb “youth video game addiction.” Licensing of new game titles resumed early this April after a nine-month hiatus.

In the three months ended March 31, NetEase posted a 15 percent year-on-year gain in revenue from online games to CNY17.3 billion (USD2.6 billion), accounting for 73 percent of its total income, yesterday’s earnings report showed. Gross profit from online game services was CNY1.8 billion (USD270 million), with a gross profit margin of 65 percent.

Net profit fell 4.4 percent to CNY4.3 billion in the quarter, mainly because of a CNY548.7 million (USD82.3 million) loss on investments and a CNY98 million (USD14.7 million) foreign exchange loss. Revenue rose almost 15 percent to CNY23.6 billion.

Shares of NetEase [HKG: 9999] rose 3.1 percent in Hong Kong today to close at HKD155.60 (USD19.82) apiece. Its New York-listed stock [NASDAQ: NTES] ended 1.7 percent down yesterday at USD95.41.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione