Beijing - Japan's Softbank has led a $430 million investment that will give the group a 35% stake in Oak Pacific Interactive (OPI), which manages Xiaonei.com, China's largest social networking site.

Along with Softbank, SBI and JOHO Capital also participated in the funding. OPI's Xiaonei.com offers features including multiplayer gaming and wireless value-added services for mobile users, and has a "dominating market share" among college students, according to Softbank.

OPI also owns the Chinese entertainment portal Mop.com, and Donews.com, an IT blogging service.

The company's total registered user base is around 50 million, and daily page views across all of its sites are as high as 350 million.

Previous OPI investors have included General Atlantic, DCM, Technology Crossover Ventures, Accel Partners and Legend Capital.

"We will use this capital to further our aggressive growth strategy for Xiaonei.com and ensure that it sustains its leadership and innovative spirit for many years to come," said OPI chairman and CEO Joseph Chen.

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