Google may reveal Chinese search engine closure: Report

LONDON: Internet major Google could reveal on Monday the closure of its Chinese search engine, says a media report.

In January, Google had said the company was no longer willing to censor its Chinese search and even threatened to pull out of China.

"Google could reveal as early as Monday the closure of its Chinese search engine and its plan for the rest of its China operations," UK daily the Financial Times reported today quoting a person familiar with the situation.

The report said the search engine could terminate all its business activities in China.

"This would include closing down both its joint venture running Google.cn and its wholly-owned research subsidiary.

"More than 300 engineers and another 300 local sales staff in Beijing and Guangzhou would lose their jobs," the publication noted.

As per the report, a complete pull-out by Google would indicate a failure to reach even a basic compromise with the Chinese government.

"This could result in a political stand-off, heightening the risk that Beijing could block or disrupt access to google.com within China," it added.

The Financial Times said that a different scenario could see Google maintain a sizeable presence in China.

The Internet major could keep its research staff in the country and continue to build search features suited to Chinese Internet users, according to the report.