China reviews Google's $ 12.5 billion Motorola Mobility takeover

BEIJING: China today said its anti-trust bureau is reviewing Google's $ 12.5 billion purchase of cell-phone maker Motorola Mobility Inc under the anti-monopoly laws.

"The investigations and reviews are still under way. Any news will be disclosed in a timely manner," state news agency Xinhua quoted Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shen Danyang as saying.

The remarks came just days after the US and European regulators have approved search engine giant Google's $ 12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Inc in a move that will boost the technology giant's efforts to strengthen its position in the mobile market.

Google Inc had announced last year that it would buy Motorola Mobility Holdings.

Under China's anti-monopoly laws, multinational companies have to seek government approval before consolidating if their combined global revenues exceeded 10 billion yuan ($ 1.59 billion) and if two or more parties involved in the deal reported more than 400 million yuan in sales revenues respectively during the previous fiscal year.