Kx.cn

Kx.cn, also known as Kaixin001 (开心网), was a prominent Chinese social networking service founded in March 2008 by Cheng Binghao, a former executive at Sina Corp. The platform was operated by Beijing Kaixinren Information Technology Co., Ltd. and gained massive popularity, particularly among the white-collar demographic in China. Its initial success was driven by viral social games like "Friends for Sale" and "Parking Wars," which attracted millions of users in a short period. One of its most famous applications was "Happy Farm" (开心农场), which led to a widespread phenomenon known as "stealing vegetables" (偷菜).

The website offered a range of services including photo and music sharing, online chat, cloud storage, blogs, and various interactive social games. By August 2010, Kaixin001 had over 86 million registered users and was ranked among the top 10 most visited websites in China. The company's business model included incorporating advertisements into its games. In 2011, Tencent invested a reported $100 million in the company.

Despite its early lead, Kaixin001 faced intense competition, including from a copycat site that used the kaixin.com domain, and a general decline in the popularity of its social games. The company attempted to pivot, shifting its focus from social networking to mobile games in 2013, but struggled to maintain its user base. In 2016, Kaixin001 was acquired by the publicly listed company Shenzhen Saiwei Intelligence Co., Ltd. Following years of decline, the platform ceased its social gaming functions in November 2023, citing the discontinuation of Flash technology, and the website became inactive.

Keywords: Social networking service, online gaming, Chinese social media, Kaixin001, Cheng Binghao, Happy Farm, social games, Beijing Kaixinren, Tencent, Shenzhen Saiwei Intelligence, SNS,偷菜, 开心网