Dianping targeting smaller cities with app

Dianping.com is boosting its reliance on Tencent Holdings Ltd's smartphone applications as the consumer review website seeks to add users from inland cities.

The company, based in Shanghai, is targeting smaller, less-developed cities away from coastal urban areas such as Beijing and Shenzhen, co-founder Edward Long said in an interview.

There are 369 such "emerging" cities in China, accounting for about one-third of the urban gross domestic product, according to a March 2012 report from McKinsey & Co.