Mark Zuckerberg hosts 30min Q&A in Mandarin

Facebook CEO shows off Chinese skills after appointment to Tsinghua board

The billionaire founder and CEO of Facebook delivered a 30 minute Mandarin speech and dialogue with students at China’s prestigious Tsinghua University School of Economics after his recent appointment to its board.

Despite some minor slips ups, including the boast that Facebook now had over 11 users (instead of 1.1 billion both the faculty and students were impressed with his Mandarin skills.

A high-flying CEO studying the notoriously tricky language is symbolic of the importance of Chinese market, where Facebook has only a limited presence.

Zuckerberg’s recent appointment to Tsinghua’s board, however, could open the gates for Facebook in the region. Among other appointees to the board were representatives from other multinational firms including IBM and drinks conglomerate Anheuser-Busch InBev.