The Chinese government has cancelled its approval of Facebook’s proposed innovation hub project in eastern Zhejiang province, according to sources quoted in The New York Times.
Facebook announced its plan to build a center in Hangzhou to support local startups on Tuesday, but the approval for the project logged on China’s National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System has been deleted.
According to The New York Times, the Cyberspace Administration of China felt blindsided by the announcement, as provincial officials in Zhejiang appear to have moved forward with the project without consulting closely with the internet regulators in Beijing.