--- description: Google left China five years ago after disputes over censorship, but it will be returning to the Chinese mainland shortly. title: Google Is Heading Back To China image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb0051df37359d57/698861e28e0601266b46228a/googles-new-logo-5078286822539264-2-hp.gif?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Google Is Heading Back to China by [Chris Matthews / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Chris Matthews / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 4, 2015 5:30 PM CUT  Google by [Chris Matthews / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Chris Matthews / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 4, 2015 5:30 PM CUT Google left China five years ago after disputes over censorship with the Chinese government, but [according to a report Friday in The Information](https://www.theinformation.com/google-nears-re-entry-to-mainland-china?unlock=7f80b377804cd8a906&token=d7a94af74dded9a5adf48d6b321155904c247269 "undefined"), the Mountain View, California company will be returning to the Chinese mainland shortly. According to the report, “As early as this fall, the company hopes to get Chinese government approval to distribute a special China version of its Google Play mobile app store for Android smartphones in the country.” Google is creating a “special” app store for China to sell apps for Android devices and other wearable gadgets. “The moves will re-establish Google as an Internet services provider in mainland China that stores user data locally and complies with government censorship requirements,” According to the Information. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4023367/google-china/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4023367/google-china/"},"headline":"Google Is Heading Back to China","datePublished":"2015-09-04T17:30:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:06:32.745Z","description":"It's five-year absence will come to an end","url":"https://time.com/4023367/google-china/","keywords":["Tech","Google","apps","China","Android","Google Play","Software","Censorship","Wearable Tech","pubdesk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb0051df37359d57/698861e28e0601266b46228a/googles-new-logo-5078286822539264-2-hp.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Matthews / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb0051df37359d57/698861e28e0601266b46228a/googles-new-logo-5078286822539264-2-hp.gif?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"googles-new-logo-5078286822539264.2-hp","caption":"","creditText":"Google","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4023367/google-china/","name":"Google Is Heading Back to China"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Closer Look at Google's New Logo","description":"Google's new logo is the most significant change since 1999 when Google flattened its letters and picked its four colors.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/z4EDjbQx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-01T19:54:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/z4EDjbQx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4023367/google-china/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4023367/google-china/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```