Facebook approved the launch of an app in China similar to its own Moments app, in order to gain a foothold in the country, person with knowledge of the company’s plans told the New York Times. The photo-sharing app launched in May through a separate local company and with no suggestion that it's affiliated to Facebook. 

It shares the look, function and feel of Facebook’s Moments app, but Colorful Balloons connects users through China’s biggest social network, WeChat. The app is designed to collate photos from a smartphone’s photo albums and then share them via QR codes. 

The app was released in China by a company called Youge Internet Technology, according to a post in Apple's app store. Youge’s executive director is a woman named Zhang Jingmei. She appeared in a photo of a recent meeting between Facebook and the Shanghai government, sitting next to Wang-Li Moser, a Facebook executive whose responsibilities include building up the company’s relationship with the Chinese government. Zhang’s presence at such a high-level meeting indicated she is likely a Facebook adviser or employee.