Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has announced plans to acquire the MSNLite team, which will focus on the research and development of the PC version of Xiaomi’s instant messaging application after the acquisition.

Local media reports that MSNLite was developed by Lite studio in April 2010 and it is an application that can be fully compatible with Microsoft’s MSN. It is also reportedly the third-party non-official version MSN that is closest to the operating habits of Chinese users. Official statistics provided by the software company claim MSNlite had gained over one million active users.

Commenting on Xiaomi’s acquisition of MSNLite, Huang Jiangji, co-founder of Xiaomi, said that MSNLite is the best third-party MSN client in the Chinese market. With the joining of MSNlite team, Xiaomi’s research and development capacity for PC clients will be enhanced. After the launch of the PC version, Xiaomi’s instant messaging application will realize the information exchange between smartphone and PC users. Xiaomi did not reveal the financial details for its acquisition of MSNLite team.

To date, the number of registered users of Xiaomi’s instant messaging application has reportedly reached over 17 million.