Twitter CEO visits China on 3-day ‘personal trip’

Twitter Inc Chief Executive Dick Costolo, who arrived in Shanghai yesterday on a "personal trip," will meet city government officials, academics and college students during his first visit to China.

Costolo is scheduled to meet government officials, including representatives of the Shanghai free trade zone, and talks are likely to cover market liberalization measures such as easier rules governing currency conversion and foreign direct investment. He will also meet university administrators and students at Fudan University during his three-day visit to China, Reuters reported.

"He will come (to Fudan) but it's totally a personal trip," a Fudan official told Shanghai Daily yesterday over the phone. But he didn't say when.

Twitter is not available on the Chinese mainland, a market with over 600 million Internet population, although it's one of the top social tools used by 250 million users monthly around the world.

Costolo's visit confirmed a Twitter statement about his trip to China because "he wants to learn more about Chinese culture and the country's thriving technology sector" as cited by Reuters.

There was talk earlier that Facebook and Twitter would be available in the FTZ but government officials later denied it.