It is true that China these days invites everyone to do business with them and invest in key corporations--except Facebook, unfortunately.
In what has been a result that analysts have anticipated, Facebook's "innovation hub" appears truly gone for good. China has taken back the license that, for some reason, was given to Facebook to open the company. Fortune reports that the Chinese government revoked the license and has even removed any mention of the name or any news about it in local social and traditional media outlets.
Facebook lightened up at the idea of investing in China, eyeing a local subsidiary worth $30 million, to have been located in Zhejiang, in the east of China. The innovation hub would be known as Facebook Technology and would have assisted other startups who wanted to break into a big business.
The move, if approved, would have also marked the first time Facebook managed to break into China's "Great Firewall." For a time, it appeared it would succeed, as a license was approved for opening the facility. China, however, appeared to have yet to warm up to the notion of a Facebook-owned operation on their shores.
It's not only Facebook that is banned in the Chinese web space. According to Time, apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, and many other Google services remained banned in China. LinkedIn managed to break into China's web space, but only after agreeing to certain concessions like data sharing with the local authorities or censoring data deemed sensitive by the same authorities.
Facebook, for its part, is a persistent customer. It has made attempts in the past to woo its way into the "Great Chinese Firewall." Mark Zuckerberg visited China several times to try to appeal to top-level officials. Facebook also tried out a photo-sharing app called "Colorful Balloons" for a time, to see how the public would react. However, it didn't seem to work out with the Chinese public.
The Zhejiang incident happened as the province's local authorities approved the license to operate. However, they failed to notify the higher authorities, particularly the government's Cyberspace Administration of China. When the organization got wind of the license that was issued, they ultimately issued the ban on Facebook's application.
Following the example of LinkedIn, Facebook could still potentially be able to open its innovation hub in China. It remains to be seen which concessions it would be willing to give in to "open up Facebook" to the Chinese public.
