Asian Insight

Business SNS in China to grow five-fold

Tianji, China’s most popular business social networking site, announced today that the number of users in China is expected to grow five-fold by 2013, gaining 100 million members.

Today business SNS such as Tianji and rival Ushi have 20 million members. (Makes LinkedIn’s one million members look relatively feeble, doesn’t it?) These websites continue to increase in popularity across China, with Tianji boasting 328,000 C-level members and 1,500,000 Senior Manager and Director level members - they are seen as a fantastic way to create relationships and form bonds.

Tianji claims that the reason that their website is so popular (compared to Western sites), is that there is a different approach to business in China. In the Western world, work, family and social are kept separate. However, in China, Tianji understands that all three aspects of a professional’s life are brought together in one pot, stating that “You need to become friends before you do business”.

The data however does recognize their weaknesses, claiming that Chinese Professional Social Networking is 4-5 years behind that of the U.S. (The website even has an equivalent of a “Poke” - a “Nice to meet you” in business terms!) But with the rapid expansion and increasing popularity of social networking in China, SNS such as Tianji and Ushi look set to become stiff competition for LinkedIn in the region.

- Charlotte