(Yicai) Oct. 20 -- Podcasts will replace audio stories as Ximalaya’s biggest business in the next three years, according to a senior vice president.

This year, podcasts have become the fastest-growing business segment of the company as each day close to six million users listen to such shows on a large range of topics on the platform, Qin Lei from the Shanghai-based startup told Yicai during a conference recently. The new trend is predicted to surpass narratives, sometimes taken from books.

However, Ximalaya does not prioritize commercialization of podcasts yet this year but instead tries to widen its user base, Qin said, adding that the podcast scene is still in the early stages of development and early monetization would hurt growth. The team aims to join hands with content creators to attract more listeners.

Ximalaya will probably fashion its podcast business model based on the benchmark of YouTube, per the SVP. Some programs can be included in Ximalaya’s existing subscription model while others can be paid per episode and content creators can also advertise goods on the platform.

Multiple consumer brands, such as sportswear maker Nike, have started podcast accounts on Ximalaya. Tesla has its Giga Radio to share stories of users and the electric vehicle maker's design concepts. Other podcast owners are Alibaba Group Holding's e-commerce platform Tmall, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer China, Burton Snowboards, fast-food chain McDonald’s, and outdoor clothing brand Patagonia.

China has at least 165 branded podcast accounts that are regularly adding content, according to podcast media outlet Bokezhi. As of August last year, the nation had more than 25,000 podcast programs, a nearly threefold jump in three years, according to a report issued by JustPod early this year. Ximalaya said in May that the number of listeners of Chinese podcasts on its platform already surpassed 160 million.

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine