Google expands in China

National - Google has increased its presence in China's rapidly expanding online market, taking a stake in local Chinese social networking site tianya.cn.

Google is yet to reveal its share in the company, but news reports suggest anywhere between 10% and 60%.

China is the world's second largest internet market after the US, with around 162 million internet users.

Tianya.cn offers a variety of services including user blogs, classified advertising, photo hosting and news. The site has approximately 20 million users.