John Gong, a professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics, said that the investigation could be related to Google’s dominance in the Android business, as virtually all smartphone brands apart from Apple and Huawei would have to pay licensing fees to Google to use the Android system on their devices.
Beijing later blocked Google services under its Great Firewall censorship system, including its email service Gmail, as well as its Chrome browser and search engine, making it inaccessible to users in mainland China.
Here's what it means China on Tuesday announced a flurry of retaliatory measures against the U.S., including tariffs on imports of products such as coal, liquefied natural gas products and crude oil, as well as an antitrust probe into Google.
As there are few details on what exactly Google is being investigated for, the immediate impact on Google operations is unclear, although its current status is unlikely to be affected by the probe, which could takes months.
In 2010, in response to a cyberattack and an increasing unwillingness to comply with censorship rules, Google said it was no longer willing to block search results and shut down its Chinese search engine, redirecting users to its Hong Kong site instead.
