Forlink Software Corporation announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 30% interest from Gmgame, a privately held online game portal in China.

Under the terms of the agreement, Forlink will provide Gmgame with long-term IT services and approximately US$36,000 for the shares acquired. Gmgame is both an online game portal and a popular online shopping center for game-related products. It has been a customer of Forlink's ASP (Application Service Provider) service since June. Gmgame's Web site, e-mail system, and online shopping system are hosted and managed on For-online.

According to IDC (International Data Corp.), China's online gaming market totaled US$159.7 million in 2003 in online gaming subscription revenue. Online gaming subscriptions will grow from US$159.7 million in 2003 to US$822.9 million in 2008. The market will increase at a 2003-2008 CAGR of 39 percent. China is expected to become the largest online gaming market in the Asia-Pacific by 2007.