China’s Local Advertising Companies to Pay for Facebook Ads

China’s local advertising companies have reportedly been given permission to pay for Facebook ads, as the social media company’s revenue from ads continues to grow.

A post on Chinese microblogging site Weibo on Friday reported that local advertising company Qihoo 360 was given permission by China’s Central Information Commission to provide ads to Facebook, while China’s State Administration of Industry and Commerce had also granted permission to Facebook to distribute ads in its marketplace.

The move follows an earlier agreement with Qiho 360, in which it paid a $1.2 billion fine for violating online advertising laws.

Facebook has denied the allegations.

“The companies agreed to work together to strengthen local advertising as a market-leading advertising platform,” a Facebook spokesperson told CNN.

“Qihoo is pleased to have reached this agreement and looks forward to working with our local partners to grow our market presence, reach more users and help the people of China enjoy their products and services.”

China’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has also reportedly granted Qihao 360 permission to offer ads in China’s search results, as part of a larger initiative to boost the country’s online ad market.

Facebook is one of China’s largest social media companies.

China’s government is reportedly increasingly trying to crack down on the Chinese-made microbloging service, which has attracted millions of users in recent years, including thousands of celebrities and political figures.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended his company’s role in the social network’s success and said the company was working to “improve” its service.

“As a company we have a lot of experience with content creation, content distribution and engagement, and we want to use that experience to make our services better for people,” Zuckerberg said in January.

“We think it’s important to do things differently, to build on our strengths and share those with people in China, and to make sure that our platforms are accessible to as many people as possible.”