(Yicai Global) Dec. 15 -- Chinese long-form video platform iQiyi, which has yet to turn a profit, is raising its subscription rates by as much as 20 percent from tonight in the second hike in 14 months.

iQiyi will increase its monthly gold VIP membership fees to CNY22 (USD0.70) from CNY19 from midnight tonight, the Beijing-based company said on its Twitter-like Weibo account. Non-consecutive monthly VIP charges will jump to CNY30 from CNY25.

“Membership fees have been low, which has affected the company’s healthy development,” iQiyi said. “We decided to raise our rates to form a more benign industry ecology, enable content providers to gain returns from their work and offer better content to our members.”

It follows reports that the video site is laying off between 20 percent and 40 percent of its employees. The cuts will be across many divisions including gaming, user products and video community, company staff told Yicai Global on Dec. 1.

Last November, the firm hiked subscriptions by 26 percent in its first price rise since it was set up in 2010. Rival Tencent Video also increased its charges in April.

There is a shortage of content in the whole long-form video sector, with around one-third less dramas than usual due to the impact of Covid-19, Chief Executive Officer Gong Yu said last month. Short videos have become more popular.

iQiyi’s losses widened almost 42 percent to CNY1.7 billion (USD267 million) in the third quarter from the same period last year due to increased spending on original content and intense competition from other platforms, the firm’s earnings report showed on Nov. 17.

Revenue, though, rose 6 percent to CNY7.6 billion (USD1.2 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30, driven by a greater number of subscribers, more online adverts and better content distribution services.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor