LinkedIn, WeChat planning closer cooperation

Statistics from LinkedIn showed that more than 60 percent of its users live in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. In addition, 42 percent of its users hold manager-level positions or above.

As a newcomer to China, LinkedIn is also planning to meet with some of the well-established players in China's professional networking market.

Tianji.com, a Beijing-based platform, boasts more than 18 million users. Founded in 2005, it said its user numbers have soared by an average of 500,000 per month over the past year.

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He Miao, marketing director of Tianji.com, said that as the market matures, more and more Chinese are realizing they need a separate platform to meet the demands of building a career.

The key to running a successful professional networking system in China lies in localization, she said.

"People in the West are more open to contacting strangers online and exploring business opportunities through online connections, even if they don't know each other well," He said.

Chinese Internet users seldom contact those they do not know well. "They have to become friends first before doing business together. So we have to specially design products and features to improve the interaction and make them know each other better through our platform," she said.

Jin Xiaolei, an analyst with Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analysys International, said that teaming up with WeChat is a smart move for LinkedIn as more and more people have used the mobile messaging application as a tool for communicating work-related information.

"But digging deeper and meeting the demands of Chinese users requires a long-term commitment. It is still too early to tell what LinkedIn's future in China will be," she said.

"But what is sure is that the Chinese professional networking market is going to heat up, with LinkedIn serving as a good catalyst."