Google Mobile services again available in China

Google is reporting that its Google Mobile suite is again fully accessible in mainland China, a week after services suffered a partial block in the wake of the digital services provider's decision to defy Chinese censorship mandates and redirect users to its uncensored Hong Kong website. On Wednesday, Google updated this dashboard page summarizing Chinese accessibility to its arsenal of services--Mobile is now one of six services listed as fully accessible or limited to small-scale blocking, alongside Web Search, Images, News, Ads and Gmail. Google Sites, Blogger, Picasa and YouTube are completely blocked, while Docs and Groups face a partial block.

IDG News Service notes the change could herald an improvement in Google's tense relationship with Chinese legislators, although Google's future in the enormous Chinese mobile market remains in serious doubt. Last month, operator China Unicom stated it will remove Google's mobile search services from phones running Google's Android mobile OS. China Unicom, the nation's second largest mobile carrier, said its Android manufacturer partners will instead determine which search tool is embedded on their phones. "We are willing to work with any company that abides by Chinese law... we don't have any cooperation with Google currently," said China Unicom president Lu Yimin. China Unicom's decision follows on the heels of similar statements by China Mobile, its largest competitor--the company offers a host of Android-based smartphones, but chairman Wang Jianzhou has recently played down its ties to Google, saying that the two did not have an exclusive relationship.

According to Chinese government data, the nation boasts 745 million mobile subscribers and 384 million active mobile web users, presenting a massive revenue opportunity for service providers and manufacturers alike. Earlier this month, with the feud between Google and Chinese lawmakers escalating, Motorola announced an agreement with Microsoft to deploy the software giant's Bing search and mapping services across Android-powered smartphones sold in the Chinese market, effectively reducing its dependence on Google mobile services in China or elsewhere.

For more on Google Mobile's status in China:
- read this IDG News Services article