金融时报:Twitter回来啦？

Twitter回来啦？

Twitter任命了首位大中华区董事总经理，不过它的中国策略并非吸引社交网络用户，而是做中国企业的生意。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Greater China大中华地区

emerging markets新兴市场

turnround突然好转（或恶化）['tɜːnraʊnd]

albeit虽然；即使[ɔːl'biːɪt]

censor检查和删节['sensə]

Twitter appoints greater China managing director （418words）

By Leslie Hook in San Francisco

Twitter has appointed its first managing director for greater China and pledged to expand its investment in the region, despite being banned in mainland China since 2009.

The move comes as other US social media companies, including Facebook and Google, have also been trying to expand their reach to Chinese advertisers, even while their services remained blocked there.

Twitter named Kathy Chen as its new managing director for mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, an area previously run by Twitter's director of emerging markets.

Ms Chen was an executive at Microsoft in Beijing, where she oversaw business development for Microsoft's cloud computing and enterprise services in China.

On Friday morning local time, Ms Chen published her first tweet, thanking chief executive Jack Dorsey for the opportunity to be at Twitter. “We have many ways to connect China to the world,” she wrote.

The appointment comes at a time when Twitter has been struggling to boost user growth and draw advertising revenues away from more popular platforms such as Facebook and Google.

The companies share price has fallen to just one-third of its level a year ago, and co-founder Mr Dorsey, who became permanent chief executive in October, has so far failed to revive its fortunes. His turnround plan has included staff layoffs, new products and business partnerships such as livestreaming American football games.

Last year Twitter reported $2.2bn in revenue, of which one-third came from outside the US. The company's advertising sales within China have been growing fast, albeit from a low base:

Twitter said the number of Chinese advertisers on the platform had tripled from a year ago. Twitter said that it would be focusing on its enterprise offerings, such as advertising.

“We will look to Kathy's leadership to help us identify ways in which Twitter's platform and technology assets can be utilised to create further value for enterprises, creators, influencers, partners and developers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan,” the company said.

Like Facebook and Google, Twitter was blocked in China after it refused to comply with censorship requests. For real-time information, Chinese users often turn instead to Weibo, a Twitter-like platform that is owned by Sina, or to WeChat, a chat app owned by Tencent. Both Weibo and WeChat are closely monitored and censored by government employees.

Facebook has also been stepping up efforts to expand its tie with China. Founder Mark Zuckerberg visited Beijing last month and even went jogging on a smoggy day, sparking comments about his willingness to win over regulators.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.When was Twitter banned in mainland China?

A.2009

B.2010

C.2015

D.2008

答案(1)

2.Where did Kathy Chen work for before Twitter?

A.Facebook

B.Google

C.Microsoft

D.Sina

答案(2)

3.Which one is chief executive Dorsey's “turnround plan”?

A.all of the above

B.staff layoffs

C.new products

D.business partnerships

答案(3)

4.Who monitor and censor Weibo and WeChat closely in China?

A.users

B.government employees

C.lawyers

D.corporate senior managers

答案(4)

* * *

(1)答案：A.2009

解释：2009年以来Twitter在中国内地一直处于封禁状态。

(2)答案：C.Microsoft

解释：陈葵(Kathy Chen)曾是微软(Microsoft)驻北京的一名高管。在那里，她负责微软云计算的业务拓展和微软在中国的企业服务。

(3)答案：A.all of the above

解释：他的扭亏为盈计划包括裁员、推出新产品及加强商业合作——比如直播美国橄榄球比赛。所以三项都是。

(4)答案：B.government employees

解释：文章倒数第二段。