Google says it has begun talks with the Chinese Government about the company's plan to stop censoring results from its search engine, after threatening to quit the country because of cyber attacks.
Google will hold more talks with Chinese authorities "in the coming days", it said yesterday.
The operator of
the world's most-popular search engine last week said it plans to operate an unfiltered search-engine service in China - a move that may lead to the company closing down its offices in the country - pending talks with the Government. The California-based internet operator said its computer system faced a series of "highly sophisticated" attacks that originated in China.
The Google.cn Chinese-language site is still operating in compliance with local regulations, Google said.
The Chinese service started by Google in 2006 limits search results to comply with the Chinese Government's rules to restrict access to information censors deem inappropriate.
Earlier Credit Suisse Group said Google's China operations may be "officially terminated" in February, without saying who gave it the information.
"Post Google's China shut down, China Government is likely to frequently block the Google.com website," Wallace Cheung and Sharon Jing said.
Without stable website access, Google is likely to lose traffic and revenue to Baidu and other search-engine providers.
- BLOOMBERG
