Though it's often referred to as the Chinese version of Facebook, Kaixin001.com (referred to below as Kaixin) is still proving to be a success at home. The site has attracted 450 million subscribers over the past 17 months and now has 120 million visitors every day.

According to Alexa - a leading website ranking company - it has already become one of the top ten most visited sites in China.

However, while the meteoric rise of Kaixin has been a surprise to most, it's also been an unexpected turn of events for founder and CEO Cheng Binghao.

After spending a year in a drab office out on Beijing's fourth west ring road, the company that produces Kaixin has just moved to a much larger, brand new office building that still reeks of that newly renovated smell.

The company had to move in order to house its expanding staff, which has expanded from an initial team of six employees just eighteen months ago, to a staff of over seventy people.

But even now, the company is still relatively small in size compared to its competitors. Of Alexa's list of the top 100 websites around the world, only one other website has a staff of less than one hundred.

Like many other internet based start-ups, the majority of the employees are engineers responsible for product development, maintenance, and customer service.

"It's easy to ignore the technology, but it is actually very important, " said Cheng, "such a large-scale website with 10 million users online at any one time, puts great stress on our technology. A very powerful technical system is required to assure that every individual has an enjoyable user experience."

Kaixin's success has come by way of an unorthodox business path, that begins with its founder Chen Binghao deciding to quit his job at Sina and engaging in some serious soul searching.

In 2007, Cheng Binghao was working as the Chief Technology Officer at Sina, the leading web portal in China. When Sina decided to suspend its search engine business that year, Chen, a lifelong company man, decided it was time for him to go off and do something on his own.

But even before getting the idea to start Kaixin, Chen first experienced what can only be described as some kind of spiritual crisis.

After a period of painful reflection, he realised that up until now he had always been obsessed with the latest technology and had been one of those people who "would stop at nothing to achieve their goals", he realised that he was no different from those who in order to pursue wealth, become a high-level official, or get a certain girl, ignore all the other enjoyable and precious aspects of life.

This epiphany would eventually express itself in his new website's slogan:人生開(kāi)心就好 (rénshēng kāixīn jiù hǎo) or Happiness is Enough! Though it may sound superficial and in some way caters to the consumer age's worship of happiness, the phrase still holds a special meaning for Chen.

Half way between a secular belief and a religious faith, his notion about the importance of a simple, open and "happy" approach to life formed the emotional and spiritual strength that led Cheng to create Kaixin.

Cheng thinks that, in essence, the Internet is about interactions between individuals, interactions which draw on the cultural background, psychology and habits of its users. To succeed online, all services and websites should be centered around the user and the user's experience.

He argues that this is the reason why mainland Internet companies that base themselves on overseas models are often able to succeed against their multinational competitors.

While both Baidu and Google are in the search engine business, while Facebook and Kaixin compete as social networking sites - the temperament and pursuits of each company are fundamentally different.

Chen doesn't understand the macro economy and couldn't care less about the capital markets. His single focus has always been on making sure that the white-collar worker who use Kaixin have a pleasant experience. "We do not create GDP, or add to the material wealth of humanity," said Chen, "we just want to use our product and service to make everyone happy."

Economic Observer: Why did you choose to enter the social networking market?
Cheng Binghao: Many companies entered the field before Kaixin was born. At our launch, many felt that the market was already crowded and that a newcomer could never succeed. I talked to numerous people who were puzzled by my endeavor into what they thought was a mature market. The popular belief at the time was only students needed social networks, but I saw an emerging market among China's growing white collar workers. China's rapid expansion in the last decade has led to rapid development in the country's major cities and the emergence of a highly-educated and affluent middle class. However as China develops, this new middle class is under greater stress and has less chance to spend time with friends and family. We felt that our service can provide some much needed relief for our users.

EO: Where did the idea of creating your start-up come from?
Cheng: Starting up a company was never a goal of mine. Even when friends around me were unveiling their own start-ups, I didn't envision myself in such a role. I thought the world of start-ups was filled with daydreamers, but I have learned that is not the case. The only thing I've always wanted to do is to create good products for as many users as possible. When I was working in the search engine division of Sina, I ran into many obstacles. I worked longs hours and I wouldn't stop until the words on the screen became a blur. The stress eventually caught up with me.  By the time I stepped in the door, my heartbeat jumped to over a 100 beats per minute. Once the company made the strategic decision to suspend the search engine business, I found it difficult to find a new place for myself and innovate in such a large company. By then, I knew it was time for me to start my own thing.

EO: At that moment, Facebook was very popular, were you inspired by it?
Cheng: I first played with it in 2006. I opened an account but it was what happened to me in my last months at Sina that really inspired me.

EO: So how did you come up with the name of Kaixin?
Cheng: I came up with the name in 2007. Kaixin (開(kāi)心) are two characters in Chinese that mean happiness in English. But more literally, it also means "to open your heart". If you look at these two characters closely, you can see that to be happy, you need "to open your heart."

EO: It's said that a website can make end meets if its subscription exceeds 1 million. You've already attracted 450 million users, do you think about how to make money?
Cheng: I have never considered myself a salesman. Frankly I don't understand it. I leave the money making to the sales department. If can't do it, someone else will. But I trust the salespeople we employ. 

EO: But you are the CEO of your company, and your company is not a charity.
Cheng: I want to make as much money as possible. But at the same time it is important for the company to develop a good and useful product for the user. Right now, everything is running smoothly and we are seeing good growth. We are using this time to innovate and create value for our customers. As long as we provide a great service and user experience, the money will come. No need to be so anxious about it.

EO: So as the number of users increases, Kaixin is bound to make a return?
Cheng: Not exactly. It depends on the service a company provides. Take for example, e-mail. Although their are a lot of users, it does not generate tremendous profits. We feel that as long we cater to our white collar user base, making money will come naturally.

EO: So your focus is on technology and product development, but not advertising or attracting venture capital?
Cheng: Yes, I concern myself with those sides of the business. In our industry, technology and product development are very important tasks. 

EO: You mentioned that the social networking service market is mature, what is your strategy for retaining market share over the coming 3 to 5 years?
Cheng: First, we have a strong position in a tough market.  Secondly, we have a product that appeals to the customer. Happiness works and we have a strong network of Chinese white collar workers. With these two things, I feel confident in our core competitiveness. 

EO: Did you rent your new office with revenue raised via advertising?
Cheng: No it was the money raised through a round of venture capital funding. Our first investment came from Northern Light and our second is being kept secret. Currently we do not have enough revenue to cover our operating costs.

EO: So you have a lot of venture capital?
Cheng: We have not talked with venture capital firms recently because we feel that we have enough at the moment. We held talks earlier and it was tiring. I am not interested and why should I be, I am not good at it.