Google Inc. is slowly bringing back its services in China amid reports that it is preparing a return to the world’s biggest Internet market, the China Daily reported.
According to the report, Google Maps is available again in the market, but the company still directs online search requests from the Chinese mainland to its Hong Kong site.
As of Wednesday, Oct.14, the browser version of Google Maps and its Google Earth software can partially be accessed in Beijing.
Gao Chunhui, who set up China's first personal website in 1997, said on his Weibo account that Google servers have been moved to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The Internet protocol addresses of the servers showed that Google was using an Internet service provider that belonged to state-owned carrier China Telecom Corp. Ltd.
The report, however, said that other Google-owned products, such as Gmail, news and application downloading platform, are still inaccessible.
The report added that the steps that Google is making in China now indicate that the company is thinking over its return, five years after it left China due to disagreements with the government regulator.
Earlier this year, Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google, said that the company is looking forward to serving Chinese Internet users again.
China Daily reported last month that Google is interested to bring its online app store Google Play back in China.
Although the Google Map services are available, the company still has not received the required mapping license from the industry watchdog, the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation.
While Google executives were not present during President Xi Jinping's U.S. visit last month, it does not mean that it has no connection in China. Reports said that Google is interested to join hands with China to broaden its presence in the country.
Google's most likely teammates are Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., maker of Google-branded Nexus 6P smartphones, and Lenovo Group Ltd., which purchased the Motorola unit from Google.
Lenovo Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing said last month that if Google returns to the market, his company will be "a perfect partner."