China's major video streaming websites are turning from cash burners to paid subscription services, and are generating significant profits as a result. 

The latest reports from iResearch and Entgroup predict that online paid services will become the major source of revenue for online platforms in the years to come.

75 million Chinese paid to watch online videos in 2016, which is up from 50 million in 2015. That makes China the world's third largest market for online subscription streaming services, after the US and Europe, where names like Amazon and Netflix have made impressive strides in recent years. 

When it comes to watching content on a PC or tablet, the biggest users are aged between 20 to 29, at 44 percent, and 30 to 39, at 23 percent. 

iQiyi.com, one of the country's biggest online video platforms, says its users on average spend one and a half hours every day watching paid content. 

239 online drama series were made available to paying customers last year. Half were domestically produced drama series called "internet dramas," which usually have low costs and short production cycles. Imported TV series were also popular, accounting for 31 percent of all subscription drama series.