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China to lift ban on Facebook and Twitter in Shanghai free trade zone

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Foreign websites such as Facebook and Twitter are to be permitted in China – but only in a special economic zone in Shanghai, the South China Morning Post is reporting.

The decision to lift the ban is part of the government’s plan to use the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone as a test ground for economic reforms.

The government is considering welcoming bids from foreign telcos for licences to provide internet services within the new special economic zone, anonymous sources told the Hong Kong-based newspaper.

“I wonder when the lifting of the ban will extend to all the other Free Trade Zones. As and when it does it will become a useful way to target expats in China,” Tan Rahman, head of digital for media agency OMD in Hong Kong told Mumbrella.

“I do not see opening up Twitter and Facebook in such a small geographical area as being a message to brands that they will be able to engage consumers on these platforms with the wider China market.”

“With respect to mainlanders tapping into these platforms, I rarely meet any that have anything more than general curiosity about the Western social platforms given that they are preoccupied with a plethora of their own,” he said.

“One of the main functions of the FTZ is to be more open and transparent and this seems to be a big step on China’s part to truly meet that objective.”

Facebook and Twitter have been banned on the mainland since 2009.

Talking to SCMP.com, one source said: “In order to welcome foreign companies to invest and to let foreigners live and work happily in the free-trade zone, we must think about how we can make them feel like at home. If they can’t get onto Facebook or read The New York Times, they may naturally wonder how special the free-trade zone is compared with the rest of China.”

 

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