Facebook announced on Thursday that its Instant Articles has gone live in Asia for iPhone users. The U.S. social network giant brings Instant Articles to Asia after more than 20 news publications from 11 countries in the region went live on the platform. China, India, and Indonesia are included. Facebook mentioned that 30 more news publications have agreed to begin publishing Instant Articles.

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News stories and features are loaded faster than they do with the help of Instant Articles when a user has to leave Facebook and open a web browser. Instant Articles now has faster loading within the Facebook news feed for content from selected publishers and extra interactive features. Back in May, the media format went live in the USA with the New York Times, BuzzFeed, and National Geographic as initial partners but available only on iOS.

Facebook is bringing the media format to new markets with the completion of the Western launch. Earlier this week, it was extended into Latin America and rolled out in India last month with expansion into Asia Pacific. Currently, it has over 500 million monthly active users with a potential increase in the reach of the service.

Director Andy Mitchell of media partnerships for Facebook mentioned that the expansion of Instant Articles to Asia is a significant milestone for the product and also for their early launch partners. Extensive feedback from publishers is in the design of Instant Articles.

Facebook is planning to add more content partners from more countries in the region. An Android rollout of the service is expected to roll out by the end of the year.

The following is the full list of media partners for the Asia launch: CCTV News (China); Ming Pao Daily News (Hong Kong); Aaj Tak, Hindustan Times, India Today, The Quint, and The Indian Express (India); Merdeka.com and Kompas.com (Indonesia); SBS News (Korea); Sin Chew Daily (Malaysia); ABS-CBN News, GMA Network, GMA News, INQUIRER.net, and Rappler (Philippines); The Straits Times (Singapore); Chinatimes.com, Apple Daily Taiwan, and Next Magazine Taiwan (Taiwan); Kom Chad Luek (Thailand); VnExpress and Webtretho (Vietnam); Oriental Daily News, Apple Daily, and The South China Morning Post (Hong Kong); detikcom, Liputan6.com, and Tribunnews (Indonesia); Astro AWANI, Berita Harian, China Press, Harian Metro, Malaysiakini, New Straits Times, Oriental Daily News Malaysia, and The Star Online (Malaysia); ETtoday, Sanlih E-Television, United Daily News Group, and Vogue Taiwan (Taiwan); Kapook.com, Prachachat, Nation TV, Matichon, Khao Sod, Manager Online, Daily News, and Thairath (Thailand); and Thanh Niên, Tuoi Tre, and Zing.vn (Vietnam).

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