Editor's Note: Google has been standing outside the Great Firewall of China for 5 years now following a fallout centered around regulation, but rumor has it that it has been trying to creep back in. CEO Sundar Pichai has announced his excitement to serve Chinese netizens again, and it's about time because the time for grabbing a piece of the largest Internet and smartproducts market is now. The article reports on Google's return.

On October 17, a Weibo post originally by Gao Chunhui, who created China’s first personal website in 1997, showed that Google had moved some of its servers to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The IP addresses of the servers showed that Google was using an Internet service provider that belongs to state-owned China Telecom.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai hinted earlier this year in an interview that Google planned to re-enter the Chinese market. “I see it as a huge opportunity in which we are playing as an enabling platform today and hopefully we have a chance to offer other services in the future."

Maps, Earth Partially Available
For users in Mainland China, www.google.cn still links to Google Hong Kong, and the service home page only offers Google Translate in terms of apps.

Other functions including Images, News, Drive, Calendar, Video and Google Docs are displayed but not accessible. However, Google Maps and Google Earth were partially available in Beijing as of Wednesday, according to China Daily.

In Mainland China’s app stores, Google products including Chrome, Maps, Translation, YouTube, and more are displayed in search results but cannot be downloaded. Gmail can be downloaded from Mainland app stores, but does not work properly.

Google Play on Xiaomi?
The apps are available for display because of software pre-installed on Android phones because of an early OHA (Open Handset Alliance) agreement. OHA is a consortium of 84 companies including Google, Sony, Dell, Motorola and Samsung that develops open standards for mobile devices. Chinese Android phone makers entered the market later, but conformed to earlier Android agreements. In the past, even if users install Google Play, the app could not be used in China.

Today, things are changing. Chinese media has quoted users that claim to be able to install and use Google Play on their Xiaomi phones. In addition, smartwatch app Android Wear boasts a simplified version of the Google Play store which contains usable Google apps. Rumors have circulated recently that Google will make its return to China by means of the Google Play store.

Android Wear on Smartwatches
When the new generation Moto 360 smartwatch was launched in Mainland China, Google created a custom Chinese version of Android Wear to go along with it. Android Wear is an essential part of the watch, and cannot be replaced by software by local developers.

The potential of capturing China’s huge market is an obvious draw for Google. Competition for the mobile payment marketplace, and the increasing popularity of Chinese smartphones overseas make this a critical time for Google to re-enter the Chinese market. In recent years, Android companies like Samsung and HTC have been on the decline. Google now must look to Chinese smartphone manufacturers for support in dominating the global marketplace.

Re-entering the Chinese market will not be easy for Google. Obstacles for the tech giant include obtaining the appropriate ICP license, dealing with security requirements laid out by the Chinese government, and understanding the patterns of the Mainland Chinese market.

Google has declined requests for comment from the Chinese media on its potential return to the Mainland Chinese market.

Source: QQ News

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