Tapping the Chinese market when your product is banned in the country can be a problem. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is keenly aware of this, as the social network has been blocked in China since 2009, ruling him out of participating in the giant market.

He is currently on a drive to break into China, recently delivering a speech in remarkably good Chinese, although some complained that his tones were flat. And earlier this month he showed his interest in China by leaving a copy of a book of speeches by president Xi Jinping, The Governance of China, lying around on his desk at the HQ in California.

The book appears to have been strategically placed during a visit by China's chief internet tsar, Lu Wei, who decides on online standards for China's 632 million internet users.

Nice try, but there was little insight from Lu about whether the stunt worked.

"I never said Facebook could enter China. Nor did I say he could," said Mr Lu.