SM Establishes Joint Venture STE with China's Tencent, Appoints Super Junior-M's Zhou Mi as CEO

SM Entertainment announced that it is making a aggressive push into the Greater China market by partnering with Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) to establish a joint venture named STE.

SM announced on August 27 that it has established STE, a joint venture with TME, in Beijing, China, and appointed Super Junior-M member Zhou Mi as its CEO. This establishment follows up on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two companies last May.

The newly launched STE will push forward with a Chinese rookie idol group project aiming for debut within 2 to 3 years. It will be exclusively responsible for everything from casting through local auditions to management after the group's debut.

At the same time, it will significantly strengthen local activity support for SM's Greater China artists. STE will exclusively manage NCT DREAM member Renjun and WayV members Yangyang and Xiaojun in the Greater China region, planning to provide much more sophisticated localized promotions.

CEO Zhou Mi, who has taken the helm of STE, has a deep understanding of the K-pop production system, having been active as a member of Super Junior-M and as a solo artist for nearly 20 years. He was also chosen as the right person for the job, combining practical know-how accumulated as a director of SM's China subsidiary with the insight to read local market trends.

CEO Zhou Mi expressed his aspirations, saying, "I am delighted to take on the role of CEO of the joint venture, which was born based on the solid trust and strategic vision of SM and TME. By perfectly combining SM's unrivaled strengths in IP and content production with the characteristics of the Greater China market, we will present differentiated content and generate meaningful achievements as a bridgehead for both companies."

(Photo: SM Entertainment)

Reported by Kang Seon-ae

(SBS Entertainment News, Reporter Kang Seon-ae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.