Facebook has reportedly struck a deal Chinese search giant Baidu to open a jointly-owned social network in China.
According to reports in the Chinese press, inside sources said the new venture wouldn’t involve Facebook.com, which is blocked inside China like many more social networking sites.
Instead, the venture will be a jointly owned, new social networking website.
It’s unclear when the site could launch: joint ventures need to be approved by the Chinese government and that can take a while, and they have to staff it up with experienced executives that both sides can agree on.
Last year Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg traveled to China and met with Baidu CEO Robin Li.
The deal makes sense for both sides. On Facebook’s side, it needs a big local partner to break into the huge Chinese market.
On Baidu’s side, it is threatened by social network juggernaut Tencent, and it might be a safer bet to build a social network with one of the most successful social companies in the world than to try to build its own.
