US media wowed after Mark Zuckerberg conducts Tsinghua University Q&A in Chinese

With a self-deprecating warning that 'my Chinese is very bad', Mark Zuckerberg launched into a Q&A in Putonghua.

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James Griffiths

Published: 12:00pm, 23 Oct 2014

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With a self-deprecating warning that “my Chinese is very bad,” Facebook mogul Mark Zuckerberg launched into a Q&A at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Wednesday taking and answering all questions in Putonghua.

Judging by the reaction in the US press, a reader would be forgiven for thinking this was the first time an American had spoken a foreign language. “Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Mandarin, Blows Everyone’s Mind,” gushed magazine. “Of Course Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Fluent Mandarin,” read news site Mashable’s headline.

The Silicon Valley trade press was no less impressed, “Mark Zuckerberg nails a Q&A in Chinese like it’s no big deal,” said the , adding that the 30-year-old billionaire had “slayed the crowd”.

While more international titles were less ebullient – magazine described Zuckerberg as speaking Chinese “like a seven-year-old”, and news site Quartz described his Chinese as “broken” – the verdict was mostly incredibly positive.

On Chinese social media, users were equally impressed. “This is legendary,” wrote one Weibo commenter. “His Chinese is great,” added another, “I thought he would just say hello or anything, never expected he could do a Chinese Q&A.”

Others were equally complimentary of Zuckerberg’s language skills, but keen to point out the irony of his being in China at all since Facebook has been banned in the country for more than five years.

Mark Zuckerberg taking and answering all questions in Putonghua at Tsinghua University in Beijing on October 22, 2014. Photo: AFP

Zuckerberg did not mention censorship during the Q&A, saying “we’re already in China. We help Chinese companies grow their customers abroad. They use Facebook ads to find more customers.

“We want to help other parts of the world connect to China, such as large cities, national parks,” he added.

He also waxed positive on the importance of the internet itself. “The majority of people who don’t have internet, don’t have the internet because they don’t know why they want to use the internet,” he told the crowd.

“[The] internet creates work opportunities and economic development,” he said. “Very important.”

Zuckerberg is in Beijing to visit with advertising partners and “China experts”. On Wednesday he attended a press event with Tsinghua University president Cheng Jining where the two pledged to work together closely in future.

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