SCMP cited a brief report on the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) of China saying that they have initiated an investigation into Google - the US technology giant.
"This move is part of China's response to tariffs imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump," SCMP commented.
Google office in California (USA)
Reuters quoted SAMR as saying that the agency suspected Google of violating anti-monopoly laws and an investigation was conducted according to the law. However, Beijing did not give specific violations.
Google has not made an official comment on this.
What does Google have in China?
Google began its presence in China in 2006 when it launched its Chinese-language search engine google.cn. After complying with regulatory requirements, Google became the dominant search engine in China, with a 36% market share in 2009, according to AP.
In 2010, in response to a cyberattack and to avoid censorship, Google announced that it did not want to block search results and shut down the search engine in China.
Google was then blocked by the Great Firewall. Most of Google's services, such as Gmail and Google Maps, are not available in China.
In 2017, the company announced the launch of a small artificial intelligence center in China. According to the blog post, the project was dissolved two years later and the company does not conduct AI research in China.
While Google services are not available in China, the company maintains a presence in the country, primarily focused on sales and engineering for its advertising business. It also has employees working on Google Cloud services and customer solutions. Google has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.
How is Google affected?
The antitrust investigation is likely to focus on Google’s Android smartphone operating system, AP reported. John Gong, an antitrust expert at the University of International Business and Economics, said Chinese smartphone makers have long complained about Google’s business practices.
Most manufacturers pay a fee to use the Android operating system on their devices. "Now Google is under investigation, but there is no final decision. Everything is negotiable," Gong said.
Google has previously been accused of violating antitrust laws in the European Union, South Korea, Russia, India and Turkey for abusing its dominant market position.
In addition to Google, in the latest statement, the Chinese Ministry of Finance also announced tariffs on goods imported from the US, including 15% on coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG), 10% on crude oil, agricultural equipment and some types of cars.
Beijing also announced export controls on several key metals, including tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium. Calvin Klein owner PVH and biotech company Illumina were also added to the “unreliable entities” list.
Late last year, China announced it had launched an antitrust investigation into Nvidia, seen as retaliation for U.S. chip export bans. Intel was also asked to review security concerns around the same time.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/google-bi-trung-quoc-dieu-tra-ve-chong-doc-quyen-185250205112453976.htm
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