Google plans to re-enter mainland China

In March 2010, Google, the U.S.-based search engine giant, stopped its internet search service in China following a number of cyber attacks and started directing Chinese users to its uncensored search engine in Hong Kong. This decision angered the Chinese government and they retaliated by censoring Google’s Hong Kong site.

Now five years later, the company is again planning to set its foot on the Chinese mainland as early as this fall. According to Information.com, Google is hoping to get a nod from the Chinese government to distribute a special China version of its Google Play mobile app store for Android smartphones in the country.

“Google is prepping a special China app store for Android devices and extending its Android Wear software for wearable devices there. The moves will re-establish Google as an Internet services provider in mainland China that stores user data locally and complies with government censorship requirements”, the report said.

The company has extensive plans for designing and running the store locally and has partnerships in place with specific Chinese companies to do so. The Play store app will only work on devices running the "M" version of Android and only on devices that comply with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requirements, the report added.

“It marks a new chapter in Google’s relationship with China after it publicly feuded with the government in 2010, which some Googlers say was a big mistake”, the report said.