With its investment in the venture capital firm backing MySpace China, global ad holding company WPP has bought its way into two hot growth areas—social networking and the Chinese Internet market.

London-based WPP has taken a stake in Beijing-based China Broadband Capital Partners, one of the large investors in MySpace China, the Telegraph reported. Other investors in China Broadband include MySpace parent company News Corp., state-owned network operator China Netcom, and Hong Kong based media firm PCCW.

News Corp. inked a deal in April to license MySpace, which the company acquired in 2005, to local Chinese entrepreneurs. While MySpace has tired to keep ahead of the pack in the United States amidst fierce competition from the likes of Facebook, News Corp. has sought to move into China to capitalize on the country's exploding Internet audience.

In order to do so, News Corp. has attempted to avoid the past mistakes of ventures from Western companies such as eBay and Yahoo that failed draw major traction in China. The Chinese version of MySpace, which News Corp. allowed to be built virtually from scratch in order to appeal to the specific tastes of Chinese web surfers, was released in public beta in April. The site is headed by Luo Chuan, a former head of Microsoft's MSN China portal.

It faces an uphill battle against a host of local companies that have struggled for market share, including Chinese search leader Baidu, Tencent's Qzone, Sina, and 51.com.

The move into social networking is a break from tradition for WPP, known for marketing, public relations, and advertising. But the company has moved aggressively online by scooping up digital marketing group 24/7 Real Media in May for $649 million. Its competitors have done the same—French rival Publicis agreed to acquire Digitas last December for $1.3 billion.

The Chinese MySpace has generated much interest because of the involvement of News Corp., whose CEO Rupert Murdoch has a history of dealings in China, as well as the range of other investors involved. Mr. Murdoch’s wife Wendy Deng is on the board of directors of MySpace China, along with MySpace founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson.

In addition to News Corp. and China Broadband Capital Partners, investors in MySpace China include Boston-based IDG's Chinese venture arm, which has also invested in Baidu, Tencent, and 3721.com.