Twitter plans to open offices in Hong Kong next year, as the social looks to rival the likes of Weibo in the hugely lucrative Chinese market.
The social media platform has been blocked in China since 2009, mainly due to censorship reasons but also to protect domestic Chinese equivalents like Sina Weibo.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, there are presently no plans for the block on Twitter in China to be lifted, but the company still sees strong growth potential in the Greater China market which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The office will house sales staff and joins the likes of Google and Facebook.
The opening would be Twitter’s fifth office in the region, with operations already in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney.
In August, Twitter said it was opening an office in Jakarta, with Indonesia being one of its biggest markets.
“With half of all internet, mobile and social media users worldwide in Asia today, we see many opportunities across the region,” a company spokesperson said.
News of the expansion comes as Twitter reported a disappointing 7% fall in timeline views per user – a closely watched measure of engagement – despite 23% growth in its user base in the third quarter last month.
The company also said its fourth-quarter revenue might fall short of market expectations of $448.8mn (£283mn). New York-listed Twitter shares are down almost 36% this year.
