Microsoft's MSN Inks Deal with China's Online Portal Sina

Yahoo News reported today that software giant Microsoft's (News - Alert) online news services MSN has inked a tie-up deal with China’s online news portal Sina. This agreement reflects on Mcrosoft’s latest move to expand in the world's largest Web market.

In a joint statement reported on the Yahoo News site, the two companies said that the partnership between MSN China and Sina will allow for some linkage of their services such as blogging and instant messaging. For example, users of China’s micro-blog Weibo will be allowed to log onto Sina's micro-blogging service with their Microsoft Windows Live account name and exchange instant messages with online users of the Chinese service. Additionally, any updates on Sina's micro-blogging service will also concurrently appear on the user’s Windows Live Messenger. Sina’s micro-blog is similar to Twitter, which has been blocked in China by government censors.

MSN China general manager Liu Zhenyu said in the statement, “The partnership will not only offer our users more convenient and varied Internet applications and experiences, but also further enhance both sides' competitive advantages."

According to Yahoo! news report, this announcement comes at a time when rivals like QQ, China's popular instant messaging service, and Chinese security software developer Qihoo 360 have problems over privacy issues. Analysts have warned that QQ's growing dominance will push competitors to strengthen their market positions.

The Internet research firm Analysys (News - Alert) data, which was posted on FT.com, shows that China has 858 million active instant messaging accounts in the third quarter. MSN is ranked second after QQ, which is operated by Tencent.