The American social networking website MySpace has cut two-thirds of its staff in China and several executives in the Chinese division have departed their positions.

A new report issued by a Chinese government-funded research organization states Facebook and Western social networking sites pose spy risks, and these problems should make social media mavens worry about possible clampdowns on social networking sites in China.

Chinese telecommunications operator China Mobile has announced the opening of registration of its social networking service website 139.com and the testing area of its website will be extended from Guangdong to the entire country.

CR-Nielsen, the Chinese joint venture of the international market research firm Nielsen, has published the latest statistics of the most popular social networking services websites in China, with 51.com tops the ranking list by weekly independent visits of 14 million people.

The China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Centre has published a list of the second batch of websites which provide "vulgar" Internet content.

According to the spokesperson of MySpace China, Luo Chuan, CEO of News Corporation's subsidiary MySpace China, has resigned.

Youku.com, one of the many Internet video websites in China, has inked a deal with MySpace.cn that appears geared towards enhancing the websites' advertising clout.