SM Entertainment, one of South Korea's biggest K-pop agencies, has formed a Beijing-based joint venture with Tencent Music Entertainment Group called STE, aimed at developing and managing artists for the Greater China market. The move deepens ties between the two companies following TME's purchase of a 9.38% stake in SM from HYBE in May 2025, and fits into a wider push by SM to build localised idol groups in markets such as China, Thailand and Japan while retaining its core creative identity.

STE, announced on 27 August, will be led by Zhoumi of Super Junior's China-focused unit Super Junior-M, and plans to audition and debut a new Chinese idol group within two to three years. The venture will also take exclusive charge of Greater China management for three existing SM artists — NCT DREAM's Renjun and WayV's Yangyang and Xiaojun. It follows TME's similar tie-ups with other Korean labels, including a joint venture with JYP China and CJ ENM in February and an $80 million investment in The Black Label in May, as China's recorded music market grew 20.1% year-on-year in 2025 to become the world's fourth-largest, according to the IFPI.