Mark Zuckerberg's efforts to get Facebook back into China since 2009 have been unsuccessful, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Facebook, which is looking to reconnect with roughly 700 million internet users, has courted Chinese officials, hired a well-connected policy chief, developed censorship tools and made Zuckerberg more visible in China, including his "smog jog" in Tiananmen Square last year.
While Facebook is on the outside, other social media companies like WeChat, Weibo and QQ have had success in the Chinese market. Kai-Fu Lee, the former head of Google China, said it could be too late for Facebook to make a splash if it is allowed back in.
"At this stage and time with WeChat, Weibo and other products, it's hopeless," Lee told the WSJ.
Government censorship would also be a prerequisite if Facebook were allowed back in.
"It's important for Facebook to respect the laws and regulations of China," Guo Weimin, vice minister of the State Council Information Office, told the WSJ. "The Chinese government has always had an open approach to social-media networks. Cooperation with new media is welcome on our side."
Zuckerberg wants back in, telling analysts in 2015, "obviously, you can't have a mission of wanting to connect everyone in the world and leave out the biggest country."
"Over the long term, that is a situation we will need to figure out a way forward on."
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