Chinese social networking site Renren Inc said it would acquire online video sharing site 56.com for $80 million.

The acquisition of 56.com will help Renren further meet user needs of recording and sharing their lives through video format on our social network, chief executive Joseph Chen said in a statement.

Chen later told Reuters in an interview that Renren, dubbed Facebook of China which debuted on the U.S. market earlier this year, is open to further acquisition opportunities.

We are looking for companies and start-ups that will add technology and Internet access to our strategy, he said.

Any acquisitions we make will have to be very closely tied with Renren's social networking platform strategies, said Chen, adding that there was no specific deal the firm was working on.

Founded in 2005, Guangzhou-based 56.com is a video-sharing website where users can upload, view and share videos.

Renren announced last month it had signed an agreement with Microsoft's joint venture instant messaging firm, MSN, to cooperate in areas of instant messaging and social networking.

China is the world's largest Internet market by users with around 480 million netizens. Around 230 million of them use social networking sites and 385 million of them use instant messaging.

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