Twitter still courts Chinese firms for advertisement proposals. (Photo : Reuters)
Social media site Twitter may have been blocked in China for six years now, but it is still wooing Chinese firms to place advertisements on its service, which is used by over 300 million people worldwide.
Earlier this week, the microblogging portal presented plans and proposals before prospective clients in Shanghai during the inaugural Consumer Electronics Show Asia.
"It's not a coincidence that we are here now," Peter Greenberger, Twitter's director of sales for emerging markets, told Reuters on Tuesday.
"This seems to be a moment in time where Chinese corporations really feel the urge to be global and in fact, there's even a mandate from the government saying 'go global', which is exciting," he enthused.
Currently, the San Francisco-based firm is partnering with Chinese giants such as smartphone maker Xiaomi, e-commerce company Alibaba Group, flag carrier Air China, and white-goods producer Qingdao Haier to further expand its presence abroad.
For the first quarter of this year, Twitter gathered $436 million from advertisers who placed ads via the "promoted tweets" scheme.
In China, Twitter is replaced by Sina Weibo and WeChat messaging app.
"Obviously we hope the government will change their minds about us, but until then, we can only do what we can do which is to help companies go out, that's where our opportunity is," a Twitter insider who refused to reveal identity stated.
Twitter VP Shailesh Rao said in a keynote speech before Chinese audience on Tuesday that global leaders such as Tesla Motors and Air Asia utilize Twitter to reach more people.
