Zuckerberg in China: Huzzahs from Users, Hush from Alibaba
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg made another stop Thursday on his “vacation” tour of Chinese Internet companies, visiting the headquarters of Alibaba Group. Photos posted on the web showed the 26-year-old chatting with executives at the Chinese e-commerce giant, including Chairman Jack Ma.
The visit seems to have been a source of some sensitivity for Alibaba, for reasons that aren’t clear. Spokesman John Spelich, who is pictured in one of the photos along with Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Ma, declined to comment Thursday on whether or not the visit took place.
Officials at Baidu, Sina and China Mobile have been less sheepish about their meetings with Mr. Zuckerberg, whose visit has generated much excitement among Internet industry executives and enthusiasts in China. Indeed, while the government blocks access to Facebook from within China, many Chinese Internet users have welcomed Mr. Zuckerberg, whose wealth (and his Chinese-American girlfriend) have helped make him famous among China’s urban youth.
Mr. Zuckerberg, who has suffered criticism at home over privacy issues and allegations that he appropriated the idea on which Facebook was based might wish American commentators were more like those in China. Even “The Social Network,” the movie about Mr. Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook that many U.S. viewers consider an unflattering portrayal, was interpreted by many Chinese commenters to be a positive portrait of young American entrepreneur. “I watched ‘The Social Network’ again just now,” said a user named Wang Changsheng on microblogging service Sina Weibo. The film wasn’t officially released in Chinese theaters, but is widely available on pirated DVDs. “Mark Zuckerberg wanted to create something cool from the very beginning instead of something that pays good money,” unlike entrepreneurs in China, the user wrote.
“Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg came to China to tour the most prominent Internet companies and was madly chased by many fans in the business,” said another user, Adrin Ding Zhuang. “I think this is not because he is good looking or he could surpass Google in traffic, it’s all because he is also a kid born after the 80’s, and he has the courage to create something new, which is what we lack in China’s Internet business.”
Others praised Mr. Zuckerberg’s pledge to give the majority of his wealth to charity. “Pure admiration! It would be so nice if China had more people like him,” wrote a user under the name An Lan Family. “All Chinese rich guys should learn from him,” another user, under the name Weird Guy, said.
Mr. Zuckerberg has expressed interest in the China market, though he notes that it is a market that “is extremely complex and has its own dynamics.” At a talk this fall to aspiring entrepreneurs in Palo Alto, Calif., he said there are only four countries where Facebook isn’t yet winning or on a path to win: China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia.
Though Facebook values openness, he said, it has made exceptions in some markets including Germany and Pakistan, where Nazi content and depictions of Muhammad are seen as offensive and are outlawed. But he said he thinks “it’s important that countries can clearly write down what their laws are,” something that is definitely not the case for content regulation in China, which is ambiguous and overseen by several agencies.
In his talk, Mr. Zuckerberg also expressed the desire to find a way to enter China “on our terms,” an idea that hasn’t worked out so well for other foreign Internet companies.
–Loretta Chao and Yoli Zhang
- Zuma Press
- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, left, talked with Sina CEO Charles Chao, center, during a visit to the Chinese Web company on Dec. 22, 2010. (Photo by XLWB Lao Chen/ChinaFotoPress)
The visit seems to have been a source of some sensitivity for Alibaba, for reasons that aren’t clear. Spokesman John Spelich, who is pictured in one of the photos along with Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Ma, declined to comment Thursday on whether or not the visit took place.
Officials at Baidu, Sina and China Mobile have been less sheepish about their meetings with Mr. Zuckerberg, whose visit has generated much excitement among Internet industry executives and enthusiasts in China. Indeed, while the government blocks access to Facebook from within China, many Chinese Internet users have welcomed Mr. Zuckerberg, whose wealth (and his Chinese-American girlfriend) have helped make him famous among China’s urban youth.
Mr. Zuckerberg, who has suffered criticism at home over privacy issues and allegations that he appropriated the idea on which Facebook was based might wish American commentators were more like those in China. Even “The Social Network,” the movie about Mr. Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook that many U.S. viewers consider an unflattering portrayal, was interpreted by many Chinese commenters to be a positive portrait of young American entrepreneur. “I watched ‘The Social Network’ again just now,” said a user named Wang Changsheng on microblogging service Sina Weibo. The film wasn’t officially released in Chinese theaters, but is widely available on pirated DVDs. “Mark Zuckerberg wanted to create something cool from the very beginning instead of something that pays good money,” unlike entrepreneurs in China, the user wrote.
“Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg came to China to tour the most prominent Internet companies and was madly chased by many fans in the business,” said another user, Adrin Ding Zhuang. “I think this is not because he is good looking or he could surpass Google in traffic, it’s all because he is also a kid born after the 80’s, and he has the courage to create something new, which is what we lack in China’s Internet business.”
Others praised Mr. Zuckerberg’s pledge to give the majority of his wealth to charity. “Pure admiration! It would be so nice if China had more people like him,” wrote a user under the name An Lan Family. “All Chinese rich guys should learn from him,” another user, under the name Weird Guy, said.
Mr. Zuckerberg has expressed interest in the China market, though he notes that it is a market that “is extremely complex and has its own dynamics.” At a talk this fall to aspiring entrepreneurs in Palo Alto, Calif., he said there are only four countries where Facebook isn’t yet winning or on a path to win: China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia.
Though Facebook values openness, he said, it has made exceptions in some markets including Germany and Pakistan, where Nazi content and depictions of Muhammad are seen as offensive and are outlawed. But he said he thinks “it’s important that countries can clearly write down what their laws are,” something that is definitely not the case for content regulation in China, which is ambiguous and overseen by several agencies.
In his talk, Mr. Zuckerberg also expressed the desire to find a way to enter China “on our terms,” an idea that hasn’t worked out so well for other foreign Internet companies.
Google tried compromising and threatening to pull out of the market if Chinese authorities didn’t allow it to provide unfiltered search results on its Chinese website, and had to move its search services outside of China after negotiations with officials failed. Today, Google searches are still available in China but access is unstable because of the Great Firewall.
Some users poked fun about the CEO being welcomed in a country where his website is blocked. The Facebook founder is “visiting Baidu, China Mobile, Sina,” wrote a user called Foreign Nigo. “I’m really curious about how he manages to visit his own website during his stay in China.”
–Loretta Chao and Yoli Zhang
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