LinkedIn Refocuses on China with Chinese Website and Joint Venture

LinkedIn Corp announced at the end of February that it was launching a Chinese language website in an effort to reach the estimated 140 million professionals in China. At the same time, the company announced that it had formed a joint venture with Sequoia China and China Broadband Capital (CBC). The joint venture gives LinkedIn a 93 percent share with Sequoia and CBC contributing $5 million for a 7 percent share.

LinkedIn currently has four million Chinese members on its English website and 277 million members worldwide. However, it hopes to reach a broader segment of the Chinese professional population with the new website and joint venture.

According to LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, the decision to expand in China came with much debate, as the new Chinese site may be subject to some censorship from the Chinese government. In response to this possibility, Weiner said that LinkedIn will be fully transparent about how it conducts business in China.