Facebook chief visits search engine in China

BEIJING – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg toured the offices of China’s top search engine Monday during a visit that has sparked speculation the social networking magnate is looking for business opportunities in the world’s largest Internet market.

Kaiser Kuo, Baidu Inc.’s director of international communications, told the Associated Press that Zuckerberg had lunch with Baidu CEO Robin Li. He said he didn’t know what they talked about and said the two had met before.

“Mark has had a long personal interest in China,” said Kuo.

But Zuckerberg has hinted his interest is deeper, saying, “How can you connect the whole world if you leave out 1.6 billion people?”

China blocks many websites, including Facebook.