Entrepreneur Denis O'Brien's online recruitment business is set to make a €10 million investment in China's capital, Beijing. Keyland, which owns Irishjobs.ie and its associated brands, has bought a Beijing-based company, Myjob.com. Barry O'Halloran reports.

Keyland chief executive Ken Fitzpatrick told The Irish Times yesterday that it planned to invest €10 million in the Beijing company.

Earlier this month it acquired Shanghai-based Shjobs.cn, and is also planning to put €10 million into that operation. This brings Keyland's total projected investment in China to €20 million.

Mr Fitzpatrick said there were 111 million internet users in China, and roughly one-third of them searched for jobs online.

He pointed out that while the numbers were large, the number of internet users came to just 6 per cent of the population, so the potential for growth was huge.

"We feel the opportunity exists to get in at a stage when it's really set for growth," he said.

"The scope is really big because it's at a reasonably early stage in terms of the online recruitment market. You have to be prepared to make the investment at that stage and our aim is to . . . become number one in both markets," he said.

The investment in Beijing and Shanghai will take place over the next 18 months, according to Mr Fitzpatrick.

Keyland will spend the cash on developing the websites, but it is likely to put a high proportion of the money into sales and marketing. The company did not reveal the cost of yesterday's acquisition. However, four years ago it bought two businesses that became NIjobs.com and ScottishJobs.com. Its accounts show that it spent in the region of €150,000 on both of these operations.

Mr O'Brien and long-time collaborator, Leslie Buckley, own Keyland Group, the ultimate parent of IrishJobs. Mr O'Brien owns 75 per cent of the business while Mr Buckley holds 25 per cent.