Dave Weir and Brian Zhou of ExtendLogic talked about social networking and mobile software development in China at IMUG tonite.
ExtendLogic offers outsourced software development services with Chinese programmers.
Currently, there are several massive Chinese social networks. Although they may borrow some UI elements from US sites, US sites have little presence in China.
Some of the reasons are that the Chinese sites are more culturally attuned, local servers, better local mobile support, and may offer better integration with “media downloads.”
Business model seems to be pay for template upgrades, and offline ecommerce, rather than direct purchasing of physical goods on the site. Likely that is because of limited credit card penetration.
I asked if there was a special icon for Party membership and the answer was no. 
Thanks again to Apple for hosting.