Facebook has reportedly offered £41 million to buy Chinese social networking site Zhanzuo.com.
The Chinese website is one of the largest social networks in China, with an estimated seven million users, many of whom are college students.
The move would give Facebook a ready-made entry into the largest internet market outside the US, and would mark the first time it has employed acquisition as a growth strategy.
Facebook already reports more than 100,000 users of its English-language network in China and recently signalled its intent to launch a local-language version by registering the domain facebook.cn.
However, the company has denied that it has made an offer for the Chinese site.
Facebook has also been linked to Tianwang, a Chinese search engine, and Xiaonei.com, a Chinese social network.
Xianonei claims to have eight million active users in almost 8,000 colleges and universities in China, and also has a similar appearance to Facebook.
It was acquired last year by Chinese new media conglomerate, Oak Pacific Interactive, which is reported to have registered a Chinese internet address called Facebook.com.cn.
It is estimated that China has some 162 million internet users, and according to a recent poll, the average Chinese user spends between 14 and 19 hours a week online, compared with between seven and 10 hours in the US.
Recently Microsoft agreed to invest $240 million (£117 million) in Facebook, placing a $15 billion value on it (see Microsoft Invests In Facebook).
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