News Corp.'s popular social networking site MySpace launched a test version of its new China service on Friday, making a late entry into the intensely competitive Chinese Internet market.

MySpace China will be a Chinese-owned company with backing from MySpace Inc., the IDG venture capital firm and a Chinese investment fund, the company said. Spokespeople for the company refused to give an ownership breakdown or say which investor would control it.

"Based on the MySpace global brand and technology platform, we will develop products and features that are tailored to today's Chinese citizens," Luo Chuan, a former Microsoft Corp. executive who is to lead the venture, said in a prepared statement.

The strategy of having a Chinese company operate the service follows the approach of Yahoo Inc., eBay Inc. and other Internet competitors that have turned to local partners to run their China operations after struggling to win market share.

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said in September the company was looking for a way to enter China without running into political obstacles and "heavy weather" faced by Google and Yahoo.

Murdoch said his Chinese-born wife, Wendi Deng, was playing a key role in helping to launch the China-based service.

News Corp. has tried to expand in China but has been stymied by restrictions on foreign media ownership.