(Yicai Global) Aug. 10 -- US social media behemoth Facebook will establish an innovation center in China to first serve Chinese firms who are eyeing overseas markets.

The innovation accelerator will primarily support Chinese firms that want to expand abroad, Chinese tech news platform 36Kr reported, adding that other businesses are not ruled out. Registration documents for a mainland base show that the business scope includes technology development, technical services, and investment consulting.

"We are interested in setting up an innovation hub in Zhejiang to support Chinese developers, innovators and start-ups," the California-based company, whose social media site is blocked in China, said in a statement. "Facebook has created similar hubs in France, Brazil, India and Korea to focus on training and workshops." The firm did not disclose when the operations will start in China's mainland.

Facebook's Hong Kong sales office applied to register a USD30 million unit called Facebook Technology in Hangzhou and got the permit earlier this month. Facebook Hong Kong's General Manager Zhang Jingmei was named as the legal representative for the subsidiary.

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has been working hard in building a close relationship with China for the past 10 years, including visits to meet senior officials, and posting a picture of himself running in smoggy Tiananmen Square in 2016. So far only Oculus, Facebook's virtual reality arm, has an office in Shanghai.