Facebook has discretely released a photo-sharing application in China without the social network's brand being attached.

We have long said that we are interested in China, and are spending time understanding and learning more about the country in different ways," a Facebook representative said on Friday. "Our focus right now is on helping Chinese businesses and developers expand to new markets outside China by using our ad platform."

Facebook took the unusual step of creating an app called Colorful Balloons and releasing it through a local company with no hint that the social network was involved.

Colorful Balloons has features similar to Facebook's Moments application.

Facebook has been banned in China since 2009.

The launch of the app comes as China is cracking down on technology that allows web surfers to evade Beijing's online censorship.

Google, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook are also among Silicon Valley stars not allowed to operate on China's tightly controlled Internet.