Blocked from China, Twitter goes after overseas Chinese

Twitter plans to offer a Chinese-language user interface in the coming weeks. But the company doesn't expect the bulk of the Chinese-speaking population will be using it anytime soon.

China, which heavily censors the Internet, has blocked Twitter since 2009. This has denied the company a vast market of 485 million Internet users, many of whom have taken to China's own locally developed Twitter-like services.

Twitter's Chinese interface is meant to reach native Chinese speakers living outside the country, said Twitter spokeswoman Carolyn Penner. The size of this market amounts to 35 million people living in 30 countries, she said.

The new interface will be offered in both simplified and traditional Chinese Mandarin. Simplified Chinese Mandarin is the written language predominately used in mainland China, where Twitter is blocked. Both Taiwan and Hong Kong -- where Traditional Chinese Mandarin is used -- allow users to access Twitter. Read more...