Which social network is the LinkedIn of China?

Monday, July 04, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: China | Tags: China, social media, social networks, LinkedIn, social business, social networking, Wealink, China, social business, social media, social networks, social networking, professional, online networking, LinkedIn, Ushi, Tianji, Wealink, professional online networking, Ushi, Tianji

Is it LinkedIn itself or another online professional networking site for Chinese business people? Where are the potential recruitment talent uploading their profiles to? We take a tour of China’s social business networks, all vying for a share of the country’s 450 million internet users.

USHI
Ushi (pronounced you-shee) is probably the leading contender in the world of senior business. Its Chinese characters translate as ‘outstanding professionals’, with a double meaning of ‘competitive advantage’. It is an invitation-only business social network connecting China’s white-collar professionals, entrepreneurs, investors and business start-ups; CEOs apparently make up around 5% of its user base. Figures from Technode note 12,000 CEOs, 5,000 CTOs and 75% of VCs active in China are in Ushi’s network. It boasts a home-grown pedigree – being established by 100 of China’s top business leaders – and has 300,000 members, with forecasts of 10 million users by 2013. Ushi’s promotional video shows a Ushi user climbing the corporate ladder, playing golf and finding a VC for his company.

TIANJI
Tianji is currently the largest social network for career professionals with six million members. Tianji roughly translates as ‘worldly connections’ and is aimed at career-building. It is part of Viadeo, a French social network company that has localised its offering by acquiring Chinese, LinkedIn-style companies and building the service from the ground up. Tianji forecasts that it will have 10 million users by the end of 2011.

LINKEDIN
The US site LinkedIn is to social business what Facebook is to friends and family. It is the social networking site most favoured by business and businesspeople, with more than 100 million users worldwide. Last month its headline-making IPO raised $352.8 million.

Unlike Facebook, however, LinkedIn has been allowed behind the so-called ‘Great Firewall of China’ and has seen rapid growth to more than one million users, despite not currently having a Chinese language interface.

But, according to an article by the Fast Company, it could be facing ‘big trouble in social China’, as foreign websites face ongoing threats from Chinese government censorship, as well as increasing competition from local networks. This China social media infographic, updated in February 2011, shows just how fierce the competition is in every sphere of online business.

WEALINK
Wealink is short for ‘We are linked’ and calls itself the ‘Social Capital Bank’. A networking site for business professionals, it has a mentoring environment similar to LinkedIn, in which experts answer questions on business topics. It currently has more than one million users and uses a predominantly Chinese interface.

JINGWEI
Jingwei is the new professional social network contender on the block, launched in private beta in March 2011. It is the ambitious, business-oriented child of RenRen – the largest a leading social network in China and the Chinese equivalent of Facebook – so it has good social network credentials. It is also said to be similar in offering to LinkedIn. However, whether it can make the move to the professional networking environment remains to be seen.

Why not network in China via Grant Thornton’s network of offices? Grant Thornton in China is headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Taiyuan, Changchun, Qingdao and Hong Kong. We have relationships with large corporate organisations, state-owned enterprises and directly with the Chinese government. Find out more via our China-Britain Services Group.

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