Reshuffled MSN China aims high for Microsoft advertising   

(ECNS) -- Microsoft Corp's MSN China has been reshuffled into a new company and will manage Microsoft China's advertising business, even though its Windows Live Messenger (MSN) service on the mainland will be shut down this month, the Beijing Morning Post said.

MSN China announced on Wednesday that the company will be called "Weiruan Zaixian" (Microsoft Online) after the reshuffle.

Besides continuing to run cn.msn.com, the new firm will also manage advertising for all of Microsoft's services in China, including cn.msn.com, Bing, Skype, Windows 8, Xbox and outlook.

Liu Zhenyu, the general manager of the new firm, was ambitious about the company's advertising business model. He said he saw great potential in location-based recommendations for users in the era of mobile internet.

He also said cn.msn.com still plays an important role in their strategy, adding that the portal website will focus more on content and bring new experiences to users.

The website has been committed to serving Chinese white-collar workers since it was launched, he said.

In August, Skype, the real-time Internet communication service provided by Microsoft, emailed Chinese MSN users about the date of the closure, suggesting they move to the VoIP (Voice-over-internet Protocol) service.