On Thursday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the Managing Director position for Greater China would be filled by Chen.
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Xinhua, China’s official news agency, used its Twitter account to offer “congratulations” to Chen on her appointment.
The language resembled Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) call to the Chinese media to “tell the China story well”.
The jump to Twitter comes just one year after the company opened an office in Hong Kong, even though it has been blocked in China since 2009. Chen seemed to compound that awkwardness by using her first tweets to give shout-outs to Communist Party news outlets and her frequent flier program of choice.
Her resume, however, does include a seven-year stint with institutes and companies linked to the Chinese military – from 1987 to 1994.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) says it appointed Chen to help them develop ways in which businesses in the country can make good use of the platform’s technology assets.
However, for some of Twitter’s Chinese-speaking users, that support will not be arriving any time soon.
The placement of the China MD in Hong Kong showcases a few things about Twitter’s business. Hong Kong-based tech industry veteran Kathy Chen has been assigned the role, which in her words will see her “create more value for Chinese enterprises, creators, partners, and developers”. Reviewing CA-Jinchen’s 10-year history in 2008, Chen’s successor said: “China Jinchen Security Technology Co., Ltd. joined with the second-largest global software firm Computer Associations in a strategic partnership, promoting anti-virus technology globally and bringing “Preemptible Kernel” technology into China”. However, if Ms. Chen is capable of cracking the Great Firewall and making Twitter more acceptable to the Chinese market, then we can probably expect shares to increase. In her career, Chen has also worked for Microsoft and Cisco.
Twitter stock was up by over 1% on the news of Chen being hired during early Friday trading.
Like Facebook, YouTube, and other sites, Twitter is blocked in mainland China but many people and institutions – including state media – access accounts via Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
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Twitter will reportedly be targeting China through its enterprise offerings, including its data analytics program and Fabric mobile platform, which allows developers to build apps.
