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Google Eyes China Exit

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Mar 15 2010 7:10am EDT

Google Eyes China Exit

Google Inc. is close to shutting down its Chinese operations, according to reports.

The search engine company formed detailed plans for closing and is "99.9 percent" certain it will pull out of the country after talks over censorship with the Chinese government broke down, the Financial Times reports.

The Wall Street Journal says Google will take action within weeks.

"Those talks increasingly appear deadlocked, and Google's hopes for being able to operate Google.cn without filtering results—which were always thin—have all but disappeared, the Journal reports.

On Friday, a high-level Chinese minister told Google it will face serious consequences if the company stops censoring content on its Chinese Web site.

"I hope Google can respect Chinese rules and regulations," said Li Yizhong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology. "If you insist on taking this action that violates Chinese laws, I repeat: you are unfriendly and irresponsible, and you yourself will have to bear the consequences," Li said.

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