Economy

Renren refutes reports of profit decline

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-08-18 15:08
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A senior executive of China's top social networking site (SNS) renren.com on Wednesday refuted media reports that the company's operating revenue declined for the first time in July.

Renren refutes reports of profit decline
Liu Jian, chief operating officer of Oak Pacific Interactive, which owns renren.com, delivers a speech at the 2010 China Internet Conference. [Photo/163.com]

Renren.com's revenue is still growing steadily, said Liu Jian, chief operating officer of Oak Pacific Interactive, which owns renren.com. Liu was giving a speech at the ongoing 2010 China Internet Conference in Beijing.

As of July 15, China's SNS users hit 210 million, up 19.6 percent from the beginning of this year, according to a report by the China Internet Network Information Center.

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China has more than 100 social networking sites. But the booming user numbers have not meant a strong revenue stream for all, with two once well-known social networking sites -- 360quan.com and mayi.com -- pulling the plug last month.

Cash flow issues ended the lives of the two sites, because, like most other Chinese social networking sites, their income source was mainly from investments and advertisements.

Media reports quoted CEO of Oak Pacific Interactive Chen Yizhou's remarks in July, at China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference in Shanghai, as saying China's SNS users didn't see an overall increase this year and his company's revenue declined for the first time in July.

Liu said at the ongoing conference that developers have submitted tens of thousands of applications to renren.com and thousands of them are now available to users, bringing profits to developers and the company as well.

Liu said Chen's remarks were misunderstood and renren.com was growing steadily.

The China Internet Conference started in 2002 and meets annually. This year's event is from Aug 17 to Aug 19.