Mexico's Televisa starts making Chinese soap opera

MEXICO CITY, April 3 (Reuters) - Broadcaster Televisa said on Thursday it started production of its first Chinese language soap opera, as the Mexican media giant taps the vast Asian market in search of new business.

Televisa (TV.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (TLVACPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will make a new version of Colombia's 1999 hit soap "Yo Soy Betty la Fea" about a goofy, mustachioed, bushy-browed but brainy girl who climbs high in the corporate ladder and wins the love of a top executive.

Televisa, the biggest producer of Spanish language content in the world, said in a statement that it will partner with China's Hunan broadcaster, production house Nesound and Colombia's RCN in the production of the new soap, due to air in September.

In May 2007, Televisa announced it would kick off partnerships with Chinese producers and distributors to create soaps with local actors, as well as to develop reality shows and scripts. China, with a population of 1.3 billion, has around 358 television companies and 2,000 channels.

Televisa's own take on the Colombian soap, "La Fea mas Bella", became one of its highest ratings ever. It finished airing on Mexican screens in February of last year.

The Mexican company has tried hard to stretch outside its core Latin American market.

Its presence in the U.S. Hispanic market through partner Univision is going nowhere as both companies continue to fight in courts over a programming deal through 2017.

Last month, Televisa reached a deal to air shows produced by NBC's Telemundo, Univision's main rival, throughout Mexico. The move raised the possibility the two companies will cooperate in the United States in the future.

Telemundo is part of media conglomerate NBC Universal, which is majority-owned by General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). France's Vivendi (VIV.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) also holds a stake. (Reporting by Cyntia Barrera; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)