BEIJING, November 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- "Tianji (www.tianji.com), the No. 1 Social Network for Professionals in China which localized LinkedIn's model, expects up to 18 million registered users by the end of next year -- a strong comparison to the 8 million today," says Derek Ling, CEO of Tianji.
When Tianji was first founded, few people knew about online professional social networks. Tianji staff had to explain to customers what social network services (or "SNS" for short) are and what values they can get out of them. It was also difficult to convince internet users to disclose their authentic information on the internet, which was considered as "virtual" at that time.
Nowadays, however, both entertainment SNS, such as Renren, and social networks for professionals, such as Tianji (www.tianji.com), have made great progress from what they were like a few years ago, even though they are still in their early stages of developing the market. The SNS concept has been widely accepted by many people, and this is indeed a great encouragement for Tianji.
As China's largest professional social network with 8 million members now, Tianji is currently experiencing rapid growth -- from 100,000 new members per month early in 2011 to 380,000 new members joining each month today. The Tianji team has expanded to a proud staff of 86 compared to just 5 staff in 2004.
Surprised by the amazing development of social networks for professionals in China, Tianji's parent company, Viadeo group, the largest professional social network in the non-English speaking community worldwide, has clearly shifted their strategic focus to China - with anticipated investment tripling that of the previous figure, as Viadeo Co-founder and CEO Dan Serfaty revealed to the Western media some time ago.
This is further confirmed by Derek Ling. "As the fully-owned subsidiary of Viadeo group in China, we have always received their utmost support - both in terms of capital and technology. The very gesture that Dan has moved to Beijing with his entire family since September shows the best for his dedication and emphasis on the Chinese market," says Derek.
About Tianji
Tianji (www.tianji.com), which was founded in China by Derek Ling in 2004, merged with the France-based professional social network Viadeo in 2009, and has since became an important part of Viadeo's "glocal" strategy. Viadeo, now the number two professional social network in the world, was founded in 2004. With 40 million registered users worldwide, Viadeo has its unique strategic proposition - a strong base in Europe + emerging markets with China as a focus.
