INTERVIEW-China's UCWeb aims for overseas listing

BEIJING, Nov 3 - Chinese mobile Internet firm UCWeb said on Tuesday it was aiming to list overseas, hoping to cash in on strong appetite from investors looking for the next online sensation in the world's biggest Internet and mobile market.

Venture-funded UCWeb, which has over 80 million users in China and about 380 staff, would like to make the offering in Hong Kong or on the Nasdaq, where most of China's listed Internet companies now trade, chief executive Yu Yongfu told Reuters in an interview.

"I believe within the next three years we will definitely list; we have to see how our business is expanding and other market factors," Yu said on the sidelines of one of China's top Internet conferences taking place this week in Beijing.

Yu said UCWeb was an industry leader for its core product, a free Internet browser optimised for use on cellphones. He added that venture capital firms Ceyuan Ventures and Morningside Group invested about $10 million in UCWeb in 2007, while Alibaba Group, parent of Alibaba.com <1688.HK>, made an investment in May.