Google has reportedly applied for a licence to operate an online mapping service in China, as the search giant once again looks to capitalize on the world’s biggest internet market.
Dow Jones Newswires cites ‘an official’, saying the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping was reviewing the application from Beijing Guxiang Information Technology Co., which operates Google’s mapping service in China.
Beijing has so far granted licences to dozens of companies to provide web mapping after new rules were introduced last year requiring all firms providing Internet map and location services in China to apply for approval.
Foreign firms wanting to provide those services in China are required to set up joint ventures or partnerships with local firms.
China has the world’s biggest online population of 477 million, according to official data.
Google has seen its share of the lucrative Chinese search market slide to the profit of local rival Baidu as tensions with Beijing increased over a number of cyberattacks the US web giant claims originated in China.