Twitter targets China for ad growth with hire

SAN FRANCISCO — Searching for advertising growth in China, Twitter has hired a new business chief in China.

Kathy Chen has joined Twitter as its new managing director for China, the company said Friday.

Blocked on mainland China since 2009, Twitter opened a Hong Kong office last year to drum up more business in the world's second-largest economy.

Twitter isn't the only major Silicon Valley tech company pressing for greater opportunity in China despite being banned there. Facebook is courting Chinese advertisers and Google is pursuing developers.  Even though mainland Chinese users can't access the services, China-based companies with global ambitions use Facebook and Twitter ads to reach customers outside China.

"As a global platform, we are already engaged with advertisers, content providers and influencers across Greater China to help them reach audiences around the world," Twitter said in an emailed statement. Chen should help the company create more value for these parties in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as mainland China, it said.  

Twitter told the South China Morning Post that it has seen growth in the number of Chinese advertisers using Twitter. 

"Because of the success we've seen, we want to expand the investment we're making in (the region)," Twitter's vice-president for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Emerging Markets Shailesh Rao told the newspaper. "Kathy Chen will be responsible for developing the strategy and running the business."

Twitter's user growth has stalled amid growing questions about its future. In the fourth quarter, Twitter said it had 320 million users, the same as the previous quarter.

Chen is a former general manager at Microsoft and Cisco.

"Although we are not familiar with Chen, we believe her announced addition signals a strong focus on opportunities and growth in China," S&P Global Market Intelligence analyst Scott Kessler wrote in a research note.

Twitter (TWTR) shares rose 0.6% to $17.63 Friday.