(Yicai Global) Sept. 1 -- Shares in Chinese internet giant NetEase surged today despite a big dive in net profit and slowing sales after the music streaming arm of rival Tencent Holdings abandoned its requirement for music copyright owners to sign exclusive agreements with it, preventing them from distributing their music on other sites, to comply with China’s new antitrust rules.

NetEase’s share price in Hong Kong [HKG:9999] closed up 6.42 percent at HKD150.80 (USD19.38). Its US stock [NASDAQ:NTES] jumped 8.7 percent to close at USD97.42 yesterday.

The stock surge was despite a 22 percent drop in net profit in the second quarter from the same period last year to CNY3.5 billion (USD548.5 million), according to NetEase’s latest financial report released yesterday. Revenue growth slowed to 12.9 percent over the period, down from 20.9 percent last year, to CNY20.5 billion (USD3.2 billion).

China’s crackdown on monopolistic behavior by the country’s internet-based titans is sending out a very positive signal and raising the expectations of consumers and businesses, said Ding Lei, chairman and chief executive officer of NetEase. The Guangzhou-based firm has sufficient funds to carry out extensive licensing deals with record companies, he added.

The firm is also little affected by the new limit on the amount of time under-18s can spend on online gaming to three hours a week. Less than 1 percent of NetEase’s gamers are underage, Ding said.

NetEase’s revenue from innovative business and others, which includes its music service, climbed 26 percent from a year earlier to CNY4.7 billion (USD727 million). Online gaming revenue grew 5.1 percent to CNY14 .5 billion.

Editor: Kim Taylor