China Launches Antitrust Probe Into Google

China has announced retaliatory measures against the U.S., including tariffs on imports of coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and crude oil, as well as an antitrust investigation into Google.

Beijing blocked all Google services under its Great Firewall, including Gmail, the Chrome browser, and the search engine. I Photo: Lorient ASSA ABLOY

Additionally, two U.S. firms were placed on China’s "unreliable entity list," potentially barring them from investing in the country, Associated Press reporters Zen Soo and Ken Moritsugu wrote.

China and Google have had a long and complex relationship dating back to the early 2000s.

Google launched its Chinese-language search engine, google.cn, in 2006, agreeing to censor results in compliance with Beijing’s regulations. By 2009, Google held about 36% of China’s search market.

However, in 2010, following a major cyberattack and growing resistance to censorship rules, Google announced it would no longer filter search results and shut down its Chinese search engine, redirecting users to its Hong Kong site instead.

Beijing later blocked all Google services under its Great Firewall, including Gmail, the Chrome browser, and the search engine, making them inaccessible to users in mainland China.

China regularly restricts access to Western internet platforms, including Google, Facebook, and Instagram.

Despite these barriers, Google maintains a limited presence in China, primarily focused on sales and engineering for its advertising business. The company also employs staff in the country working on Google Cloud and customer solutions.