Facebook is reportedly eyeing to enter China after hiring a former executive from Chinese Internet company Tencent.
The news of the social media giant hiring former Tencent product manager Dan Grover first broke out when Uber employee Chenyu Zen posted a photo of a cake that bears Grover's name. The cake was also adorned with the logos of both Facebook and Tencent, Digital Trends reported.
Zen's caption for the photo, which read "Wow! This should be news! FB hired Dan Grover from WeChat . . . Now all the China knowledge will be with FB?!" also fueled speculations.
Grover worked at the Chinese instant messaging giant for two and a half years, serving as one of WeChat's managers for its push to expand to the global market during that time. However, the company's effort to enter the U.S. market failed, even with its parent company providing it with a $300-million funding.
Nevertheless, experts believe that Facebook is hiring Grover not for his expertise in the international market, but rather for his knowledge of how the Chinese Internet market works, Forbes reported.
Grover has previously written several lengthy essays on his personal blog about how foreign messenger apps like WeChat have managed to succeed in the Asian market compared to Western apps. In particular, he cited WeChat providing extensive solutions to work around OS limitations, as well as its early adoption of bots as some of the keys to its success.
Facebook has reportedly been trying to replicate some of the most successful features of the Chinese app for its own Messenger app.
While there is still no official confirmation as to what position will be given to Grover, his hiring is the latest in a series of moves that are seen as highlighting Facebook's interest in getting into the Chinese Internet scene. In 2015 alone, the company's founder Mark Zuckerberg has made several trips to the country, speaking to top Chinese officials.