China withdraws approval for Facebook’s new venture

Facebook’s plan for a new venture in China has ended before it even begun.

The Chinese government has withdrawn its approval for the California tech company’s plan to launch a subsidiary in the eastern province of Zhejiang, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Facebook had said on Tuesday it planned to create an “innovation hub” to support local start-ups. The new subsidiary was registered in Hangzhou, according to a filing approved on China’s National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System last week and seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

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A Chinese government database showed that Facebook had gained approval to open a subsidiary — but that registration has since disappeared. Facebook could not be immediately reached for comment.

The decision to take down the approval came after a disagreement between officials in Zhejiang and the national internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, which was angry that it had not been consulted more closely, according to the New York Times.

 

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