Visual China Group, a top image licensing company, announced Monday it has acquired 100 percent of 500PX INC shares through its wholly-owned subsidiary, VCG Hong Kong Ltd.

This acquisition marks another key milestone in VCG's continued strategic development in the global imagery industry, and further investment in an already successful partnership.

500px, founded in 2009 and based in Toronto, Canada, is one of the leading online visual communities in the world. With more than 13 million professional and hobbyist photographers from over 195 countries and regions, the 500px community has produced over 120 million unique images showcasing diverse and creative trends.

In July 2015, VCG participated in 500px's global expansion as a strategic investor. In November 2015, VCG and 500px jointly-launched 500px.me, a localized community for professional and hobbyist photographers in China. The 500px.me iOS and Android mobile apps were successfully launched in February 2016.

In the past two years, both teams have worked closely, collaborating on product, technology, marketing and business development.

After the acquisition, both companies will provide more professional SaaS (Software as a Service) functions to visual creatives around the world, including those relating to big data, AI, and trusted time stamping technologies.

Both VCG and 500px will continue to develop digital copyright services, including registration, transaction, traceability, protection and artistic content collection. Furthermore, VCG will leverage its strengths in the imagery industry and professional communities to accelerate the growth of 500px's community, visual content licensing and custom photography services.

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