Google's license to operate in China is renewed

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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Google Inc. said Friday that its license to operate its Internet-search services in China was renewed by the country's authorities, giving a boost to the company's shares in early trading.

"We are very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP license and we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China," the company said in a brief statement, with ICP referring to the Internet Content Provider acronym.

Shares of Google rose more than 3% after the opening bell to $471.68. The stock has lost more than a quarter of its value this year -- in part due to concerns about its outlook in one of the world's fastest growing technology markets.

In January, the Mountain View, Calif., tech giant had warned that it might cease operating in China because it would not give in to the country's leaders' demands that it censor users' search results.

A couple of months later, Google began directing users of the China website to its Hong Kong site, where they could access uncensored results. The Chinese government objected to that effort, the reports say.

Google ended that redirection last week. Reuters reported that analysts viewed the move as Google softening its stance and preparing to compromise so it could continue to operate in China

Google's main rival in China (Baidu.com), saw its own shares dip more than 2% in early trades Friday. The company was considered the main beneficiary of Google's withdrawal from the market.

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