Facebook opens subsidiary in China

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Facebook has opened a subsidiary in the Chinese mainland, records show, a long-awaited step for the social networking giant and its Mandarin-speaking founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The company says it wants to set up an “innovation hub” in Zhejiang to support Chinese developers, innovators and startups. It has done the same elsewhere, including France, Brazil, South Korea and India.

The new Facebook subsidiary, registered in the eastern city of Hangzhou, will engage in the development of network IT, technology services and consulting, among other services, the corporate filing showed.

The company, called Lianshu Science and Technology (Hangzhou), was established on July 18 with 30 million US dollars of registered capital, according to China's corporate record database. Lianshu literally means "face" and "book."

Facebook's Hong Kong branch holds all of its shares.

Despite the ongoing trade dispute, US tech firms are increasingly looking for new ways to enter the market.

Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based industry analyst, told the Global Times on Tuesday intensive moves taken by US companies to enter the Chinese market show the two countries share more common ground than disagreements, even amid the Sino-US trade tensions.

Another example is Google, which recently launched its own artificial intelligence (AI) lab.

It has also tentatively launched several apps for the Chinese market in recent months, including an AI drawing game and file management app.

Source(s): AP ,Reuters