Facebook Gains Access To China

Facebook has signed a deal to set up a social networking site in China, according to

. The deal features Facebook partnering with Baidu

, a Chinese search engine company, to provide a new social media platform in China. Up until now, Facebook has been banned in China, as the website's user-created content does not comply with China's censorship laws. How the new venture, which will be jointly owned by Facebook and Baidu, will provide a Facebook-like experience while conforming to China's strict censorship laws is unknown at this time. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly been pursuing a deal to break into the Chinese market for some time. Last December, Zuckerberg was in China on vacation, apparently making contacts and meeting with potential partners for this venture into the world's most populous nation. With nearly 1.4 billion residents, China represents a huge opportunity for the world's most popular social-networking site. China might not be the only opportunity for Facebook's expansion? As of today, there are only 13 countries in the world where facebook is not already a top-five website: China, Iran, Japan, Belarus, Russia, Brazil, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Poland, and Moldova. With the exception of China, most of the other 12 countries on this list have their own social networking service.