INTERNET: Smog, Propaganda Boss Greet Facebook’s Zuckerberg in Beijing

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Bottom line: Mark Zuckerberg’s latest visit to Beijing and meeting with a top propaganda official show his hopes of bringing Facebook to China are still alive, and could result in announcement of a new joint venture by year-end.

Facebook’s Zuckerberg back in Beijing

Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) chief Mark Zuckerberg may not have much chemistry with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but he certainly seems quite capable of getting meetings with high-ranking Chinese Internet and propaganda officials. Just a couple of months after returning from paternity leave for the birth of his daughter, Zuckerberg was back in Beijing over the weekend to attend a government-sponsored forum, as he pursues his aim of bringing Facebook to the world’s biggest Internet market.

Zuckerberg is certainly no stranger to meetings with top Chinese officials as he pursues his goal. Last year he made headlines when he reportedly asked President Xi Jinping to choose an honorary Chinese name for his daughter during Xi’s state visit to Washington, even though his request was ultimately declined. And in late 2014, he hosted a tour at Facebook’s Silicon Valley campus for Lu Wei, minister of the Cyberspace Administration for China.

Now media are reporting that Zuckerberg met with Liu Yunshan, China’s former propaganda chief, on his latest trip to Beijing. (English article) Details of the meeting were carried by the official Xinhua news agency, which typically reports on this kind of encounter between foreigners and high-ranking government officials. Liu reportedly told Zuckerberg he hoped that companies like Facebook could help their Chinese peers to develop, which was the only content of the meeting in the Xinhua report.

From China’s perspective, this kind of meeting is mostly a matter of face, since it bolsters the credibility of government leaders. Zuckerberg is happy to give such face to Chinese leaders, though he undoubtedly continued to make his case behind the scenes to Liu and anyone else who would listen why Facebook should be allowed into China.

Zuckerberg’s formal reason for visiting China was to attend the government-sponsored China Development Forum, where he spoke in a dialogue with local Internet celebrity Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). (Chinese article) Zuckerberg also attended a similar forum in 2014 at the prestigious Tsinaghua University, China’s leading sciences university that is also closely tied to Beijing. (previous post)

Jog in the Smog

Both foreign and Chinese media also poked some fun at Zuckerberg during his latest visit, showing a photo of him jogging outside in Beijing’s thick smog during his visit for the 3-day forum. (English article) Zuckerberg himself posted the photo of him running through Tiananmen Square on his visit. But it was only observers who noted the thick smog around him, dubbing him “the most expensive air cleaner” for his efforts.

All of that said, it’s time to consider what all of this means for Zuckerberg and his non-stop press to bring Facebook to China. I’ve previously said that his ability to get meetings with so many top leaders appears to show that Beijing wants him to believe that he may soon get his wish of permission to launch a service in China, perhaps as soon as this year.

Zuckerberg must certainly believe he still has a good chance at getting such permission for him to make such a high-profile visit so soon after returning from his equally high-profile paternity leave. Such access wouldn’t be unprecedented, since business networking site LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) and Facebook-owned instant messaging service WhatsApp are both now operating legally in the country.

Zuckerberg’s quest to enter China dates back at least 5 years and probably a bit longer, as he’s often quoted saying that China is an important part of Facebook becoming a truly global company. He was reportedly in discussions for a joint venture to enter China around 5 years ago, potentially with online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), though nothing was ever announced from that effort. This latest visit indicates his hopes of entering China soon are still alive, and I would still stand by my previous wager that the chances are 50-50 or higher we could see him announce a Chinese joint venture by the end of this year.

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