MySpace China's chief executive has announced plans to launch an online messaging service as soon as possible, Reuters reports.Luo Chuan revealed the group's intention to secure a greater stake in the second largest internet market on the planet.
Technicians have been brought in to test a beta version of an instant messaging service, with MySpace insisting it needed high-end features such as video to attract users.
"The roll-out depends on user feedback and whether the performance is able to satisfy users' demands. We hope to roll it out quickly, as soon as possible," said Ms Chuan, the former head of Microsoft MSN China.
China has over 140 million web users and MySpace launched a test in China earlier this year to extend it into the country.
Despite the growing popularity of Facebook, MySpace remains the most popular social networking site in the UK and America.
In April, Hitwise's top social networking sites study showed MySpace had secured 79.7 per cent of the market share, ahead of Facebook with 11.47 per cent and Bebo, which claimed just 1.28 per cent.
Meanwhile, US State Attorney Henry McMaster has asked MySpace to provide information about any South Carolina sex offenders who use the site.
He is following the lead of many of his colleagues in other states who have used the site to receive such information, in a bid to use it as an investigation tool.
