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Watch: Mark Zuckerberg speaks Mandarin for 30mins at Q&A session!

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We all know Mark Zuckerberg is a talented man. After all, one doesn't build a billion-dollar company without having some smarts and skill.

But did you know the co-founder of Facebook speaks Mandarin?

Granted it is heavily-accented Mandarin and the pronunciation is a tad mangled, but Zuckerberg knows enough to hold an extended conversation. Now that's impressive.

You would think a guy that rich would just hire a translator. 

Zuckerberg showed off his impressive linguistic skills at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Wednesday during a public question and answer session.

The 30-year-old posted a video of the session on his Facebook page on Thursday.

 

 

 

 

The half-hour session with Chinese and international students kicked off with Zuckerberg greeting the audience in Mandarin.

His effort shocked the crowd, which cheered and applauded loudly.

The cheering intensified when Zuckerberg said his wife Priscilla, who is a Chinese American, was one of the reasons he picked up the language.

The Q&A session, which was peppered with jokes and laughs, saw Zuckerberg discuss a variety of topics including his philosophy on founding a company and his view of Chinese innovation.

'We’re already in China'

Zuckerberg's charm offensive in China may come as a surprise to some as the social network has been banned in China since 2009.

But the company has reportedly rented office space in Beijing in a bid to boost its business selling online ads to Chinese companies and local governments seeking to promote themselves abroad.

Earlier this week, he was named to the advisory board of Tsinghua’s School of Economics and Management, a further step towards strengthening the company’s China ties.

Asked about Facebook’s plans in the country, he maintained: "We’re already in China."

"We help Chinese companies increase their overseas customers; they use Facebook advertising to find more customers," he said. "So, we want to help different places in the world connect with China."

Sources: Facebook/Mark Zuckerberg, AFP

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