Renren, a Chinese social networking website, will integrate its services with MSN, Microsoft's Internet portal, the companies announced on Wednesday.

Reuters reported that netizens will be able to share login access, status updates and instant massaging on both platforms, according to their agreement. The collaboration between the two former competitors reflects a trend of alliances in social networking services, combating pressure from front-runners such as Chinese micro-blogging site Sina Weibo and instant messenger provider QQ, industry analysts said.

China is the world's largest Internet market with around 480 million users, and half of them use social networking websites.

By Sun Yuanqing