--- description: Facebook has registered a subsidiary in China to establish an "innovation hub" in its latest effort to broach the country where it's blocked title: Facebook Sets Up Subsidiary in China for 'Innovation Hub' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9aa07b0cf2a521d/69893623ab6d77f5e16b341f/rtx66hke.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Facebook Just Opened a Subsidiary in China Despite a Ban on the Social Network by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 25, 2018 5:25 AM CUT  A Facebook booth at the China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang, Guizhou, China on May 27, 2018. A Facebook booth at the China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang, Guizhou, China on May 27, 2018.China Stringer Network/Reuters by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 25, 2018 5:25 AM CUT Facebook [registered a subsidiary](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-facebook-subsidiary/facebook-quietly-sets-up-subsidiary-in-china-despite-hardening-censorship-idUSKBN1KE1JF "undefined") in China this month with plans to establish an “innovation hub,” in the company’s latest effort to broach a market where its social media sites are blocked by state censors. The subsidiary, which is registered in the central Chinese city of Hangzhou, was revealed Tuesday in a filing approved last week on China’s National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, Reuters reports. The new subsidiary is intended to set up an innovation hub to host training workshops and “support Chinese developers, innovators and start-ups,” akin to similar efforts in France, Brazil, India, and Korea, a Facebook representative told Reuters. The subsidiary was [backed](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/technology/facebook-china-subsidiary.html "undefined") by a $30 million investment, according to the New York _Times_. But the registration was later removed from the Chinese government agency’s website, and references to it were scrubbed from social media in China, perhaps an indication of the sensitivity of navigating the Chinese tech market, the _Times_ reports. Facebook’s website and social media networks, including Instagram and WhatsApp, remain [inaccessible](http://time.com/8873/whats-all-the-fuss-about-whatsapp-chinas-wechat-is-a-worthy-rival/ "undefined") in China, as do many Google services. Other [companies](http://fortune.com/2017/07/24/the-complicated-way-forward-for-tech-giants-in-china/ "undefined") such as LinkedIn have [yielded to censorship](http://time.com/4581361/facebook-china-censorship-news-mark-zuckerberg/ "undefined") or agreed to share data with Chinese authorities in order to gain operating licenses. **Read more**: [_A Brief History of Facebook’s Courtship of China_](http://time.com/4265665/china-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-great-firewall/ "undefined") But Facebook has made [numerous efforts](http://time.com/4265665/china-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-great-firewall/ "undefined") over the past decade to enter the Chinese market without vexing the country’s stringent [internet regulators](http://time.com/4354665/china-great-firewall-innovation-online-censorship/ "undefined"). Founder Mark Zuckerberg has personally attempted to woo top-level officials, including President Xi Jinping, and charm potential users, [hosting a Q&A](http://time.com/3532634/mark-zuckerberg-chinese-facebook/ "undefined") in Chinese at Beijing’s Tsinghua University in 2014\. He also braved the Chinese capital’s notorious smog to [jog](http://time.com/4263917/mark-zuckerberg-china-smog-facebook-tiananmen/ "undefined") through Tiananmen Square in 2016. Last year Facebook debuted a [new photo sharing app](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/technology/facebook-china-moments-colorful-balloons.html "undefined"), called Colorful Balloons, which bears similarities to Facebook’s Moments app but lacked any reference to the social network, the _Times_ reported. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5347945/facebook-subsidiary-china-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5347945/facebook-subsidiary-china-ban/"},"headline":"Facebook Just Opened a Subsidiary in China Despite a Ban on the Social Network","datePublished":"2018-07-25T05:25:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:56:50.770Z","description":"The hub is intended to host training workshops for Chinese start-ups","url":"https://time.com/5347945/facebook-subsidiary-china-ban/","keywords":["Companies","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9aa07b0cf2a521d/69893623ab6d77f5e16b341f/rtx66hke.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta9aa07b0cf2a521d/69893623ab6d77f5e16b341f/rtx66hke.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Facebook booth is seen at the China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang","caption":"Facebook booth is seen at the China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang","creditText":"China Stringer Network/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5347945/facebook-subsidiary-china-ban/","name":"Facebook Just Opened a Subsidiary in China Despite a Ban on the Social Network"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Facebook Overhauls News Feed to Focus on What Friends and Family Share","description":"Facebook Overhauls News Feed to Focus on What Friends and Family Share","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/cgFvbVpi/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-01-12T01:13:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cgFvbVpi.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5347945/facebook-subsidiary-china-ban/","duration":"PT1M50S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5347945/facebook-subsidiary-china-ban/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```