In its big push to find new markets in the West and China, DeNA said it signed a deal with Chinese social network Kaixin001 to smooth the way for its users to play Mobage-supported games.

The only issue? Kaixin001 is becoming somewhat of an also-ran social network in China. It has 120 million registered users. Compare that to new darling Sina Weibo, which has captured 250 million users in less than two years, and has become the social networking destination of choice for the country’s white-collar workers. This is not to mention giant Tencent, which has more than 700 million users across its five platforms, and reaches consumers beyond the first-tier coastal cities into the heart of the Chinese market.

Still, the Kaixin001 should help on-board more Chinese consumers to DeNA’s Mobage platform. The deal lets Kaixin001 users access Mobage China with their existing Kaixin001 IDs and passwords. Kaixin001 users will be able to download the Mobage China Android app and play mobile games through DeNA’s network. (You can see available games here, including the Mandarin version of WeRule.) There’s also basic sharing features.

DeNA launched Mobage in China and the U.S. this fall. Because the Japanese market has already become saturated with DeNA and rival GREE’s mobile-social gaming platforms, both companies are looking abroad for growth. DeNA acquired ngmoco:) last year for up to $403 million. As a U.S. subsidiary, ngmoco:) has built up the Western-facing side of the company’s mobile gaming platform and brought it out of beta last month.