A Pipe Dream? Facebook’s Ambitions in China

A Pipe Dream? Facebook’s Ambitions in China
Sep 04, 2014 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s note: The following article was translated from a newspaper article that appeared in Southern Metropolis Weekly and represents the opinions of its author, Ma Yimin. Ma explores Facebook’s past in China, and analyses whether Facebook will ever achieve its own Chinese dream.

A Pipe Dream? Facebook’s Ambitions in China
Photo: start-vpn.com

From registering its domain name in 2007, to the latest news that Facebook is renting an office in Beijing, Facebook’s entry into China generates news every year, as the Chinese market has become Facebook’s priority.

“Without conquering the Chinese market, how can we say that we have conquered the world?” says Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for whom the Chinese market has become an extraordinary obsession.

After defeating its ancestors Myspace in 2008, Facebook has become the world’s largest social networking site. Now, however, Facebook is facing subscriber growth stagnation.

Zuckerberg has two options: one is looking for a new population of netizens, while the other is to develop the hot Chinese netizen market. On the 10th anniversary of the founding of Facebook, Zuckerberg proudly said: “Facebook connects a third of the world, and in the next 10 years it has the task of connecting the remaining two thirds”.

From a different perspective, Facebook is finally marching ahead to do it the Chinese way.

Paving the way into the Chinese market?

In 2007, Facebook registered the Chinese .cn domain, and in March 2008 received an investment of more than a hundred million American dollars from Li Jiacheng (editor’s note: Li Jiacheng is a well-known Hong Kong businessman and the richest man in Asia), and in June of the same year they released a simplified Chinese version of Facebook.

From 2007 until now, Facebook has already prepared talent, a registered trademark, a domain and other needed resources. Everything is ready, all that is needed is an ‘Eastern wind’ (ie a windfall, or favorable conditions). Up until now, Facebook has been unable to find Chinese cooperation, nor obtained permission to run.

The obstacles

According to the “Foreign Corporations are not allowed to run an internet information platform within China” regulation, foreign Internet companies wanting to enter the Chinese market must first establish cooperation with an ICP (Internet Content Provider) company. At the end of 2010, Zuckerberg interviewed 4 Chinese Internet companies, but none of these reached a desire to cooperate. Moreover, Facebook entering China involves an ideological problem – it is a free system;if restrictions are put in place, consumers may feel like their expectations are not fulfilled.

In other countries Facebook has also encountered political policy issues of control. For example in Germany, any content related to the Nazis is banned, and in Pakistan, any physical depictions of Mohammed are not permitted. Zuckerman says that Facebook completely respects that all nations have varying values.

Will Facebook ever get a slice of the “China” cake?

Looking at China’s 591,000,000 netizens, the market is an extremely big cake for Facebook. But will Facebook eventually be able to have their cake, and eat it too?

Zuckerberg is also very aware, with numerous greedy eyes on China’s leading Internet companies in the international market, that those able to find success here are decreasing. Google, Yahoo!, Myspace, eBay, and Groupon all entered the Chinese market with much difficulty, and a few of them have even had to exit China completely. China’s policies are not obvious, and changing in order to adhere to these policies may be foreign companies’ greatest obstacle.

“You have to have patience, and fully understand the Chinese market and its users, and these things cannot be done quickly,” said Myspace’s China CEO with regards to Facebook’s rumored leap into China. It will be hard, even if Facebook does adhere to China’s regulations, which also does not seem practicable.

The media has already imagined three possible ways for Facebook to enter China: one is by means of social contact with businesses, two is through an independently arranged Chinese corporation built on the original concept, and three, by purchasing or investing in an already existing Chinese social networking website.

However, thinking less about some of the details, regardless of which method is used, Facebook’s Chinese Dream is not an easy one.

Source: Southern Metropolis Weekly

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Keywords: Facebook in China Facebook’s ambitions in China

6 Comments

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markhascole

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Jul 16, 2018 18:28 Report Abuse

October1st

I totally gave up on FB since I saw some weird thumb ups, e.g. thumbing up for funeral pictures of their friend. Also don't understand why people should share funeral pictures of his died baby on a social network.

Sep 18, 2014 11:57 Report Abuse

Englishuk

Facebook is terrible, it is all adverts and no bandwidth. it's main aim is to provide a platform for businesses to sell or to gather information to sell to businesses. to be honest it's main aim should be to provide a good level of service to the average user! I have deleted my account, I am fed up with it.. I prefer QQ

Sep 10, 2014 19:12 Report Abuse

Stiggs

Well except for KFC, Mcd's, Subway,Pizza Hut, Burger King,Starbucks, Microsoft, Apple,supermarkets, Nike, Adidas, Ford, Buick, Chevrolet, Hollywood movies, American TV series, Western music,greeting people with a handshake, imitation Western villages, Disneyland, Christmas, Halloween, double eyelids, the English language, Foreign schools and citizenship, technology, antibiotics, clothing styles and fashions,the internet and computers, Western suits, kitchen appliances and the countless other foreign brands and concepts that I can't be bothered listing but that Chinese can't get enough of..... yes maybe you're right. China will never let that evil foreign influence get a foothold in China again.

Sep 10, 2014 12:16 Report Abuse

bill8899

That is an interesting perspective.

Sep 05, 2014 07:29 Report Abuse

edsander

There's an important aspect the writer seems to forget. If Facebook would enter China it would only be under the CCP's rules. That means heavy self-censoring of content. The writer does not ask the question if netizens would even have the need for such a platform. Driven by competitions of many copycats, most of the social media/networks in China have evolved far beyond those in the west and are superior to any Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Why would Chineze netizens want an inferior product that's also censored? As far as buying another platform is concerned, I would expect the CCP to be very protective about their internet businesses. Besides, RenRen, which is probably the closest thing resembling Facebook, is on the way out with declining monthly active user numbers.

Sep 04, 2014 15:20 Report Abuse