Ni Hao China! PM debuts on Chinese Twitter, Weibo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday scaled the Great Firewall of China, at least on social media. A week before his big trip to Beijing, the PM logged in to Sina Weibo, the largest Chinese micro-blogging site with over 140 million monthly active users.

And the world leader with third-largest following on Twitter had already some 5,000 followers on his new Chinese account. PM Modi has 12 million and 28 million followers on his Twitter and Facebook handles. The PM also tweeted about his Chinese social media debut.

Launched in 2009, Weibo means "microblog" in Chinese. Like Twitter, Weibo lets users to post comments, updates, pictures and videos. Western analysts have good words for the microblog, which they feel has given Chinese citizens a platform to engage and interact with other users, often discussing issues and topics outlawed by Beijing's infamous strict censorship.

Huang Xilian, deputy director general of Asian affairs, said Beijing wants India and China to act as a "bridge" for the development of Nepal and Sri Lanka so as to reduce strategic rivalry between the two Asian giants and firm up their strategic influence in the region.

"There are lot of perceptions about border issue. So long as the two leaderships have strong political will we have good prospects for the resolution of the border issue," Huang said at a briefing to Indian media about Modi's visit which is expected to take place in the third week of next month.

Shanghai is the next stop for the PM. BJP is coordinating with the Indian community in China to organise a "grand reception" for Modi in Shanghai on May 16. They expect a gathering of 10,000 people or more.

The event will be the grand finale for Modi's China visit from May 14 to 16. He will head for South Korea from there. He will head for South Korea from there. The Prime Minister will start his three-nation tour with Mongolia on May 12. BJP leader Ram Madhav was in China earlier this week and is believed to have finalised details of the event, which is going to be like "nothing seen in China" before. The party is in the process of ensuring a huge turnout at the event.


"We are reaching out to the burgeoning Indian community in China and the huge NRI population in Hong Kong comprising Gujaratis, Sindhis and Marwaris. They are all extremely enthusiastic about the event," a senior BJP leader told ET. Estimates put the number of Indians in China at 45,000, including13,000 students. The rest are businessmen and professionals working in various multi-national companies in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangdong.