Andre Yoskowitz
20 Dec 2010 15:07
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken a vacation to China this month, taking time to meet with Baidu CEO Robin Li.
Baidu is considered the 'Google of China,' being far-and-away the most used search engine in the nation.
China has 1.3 billion citizens, and Facebook, along with other social networking sites, is banned in the country.
Zuckerberg has made it clear he has interest in the Chinese market, which has over 400 million active Internet users.
A spokesperson for Baidu was quick to quash any rumors that the search giant may be interested in buying Facebook: "Rumors that Baidu is about to acquire Facebook are greatly exaggerated. C'mon people. Robin and Mark have known each other for a while. Mark's interest in China is well known. Keep the speculation in check."
Zuckerberg has been learning Mandarin all year, studying one hour per day as a way to "understand the language, the culture, the mindset -- it's just such an important part of the world."