The Financial Times reports that Google’s legal structure may allow the company to continue to operate in China even if it closes its Chinese search engine Google.cn:
The company operates google.cn, its China-registered website, under a joint venture with a domestic partner because Chinese law bars foreign investors from holding controlling stakes in the internet content business. But most of Google’s workforce in the country is employed by a separate company wholly owned by the US parent.
“Research and development staff all work with us,” said an employee at Google Information Technology (China), a wholly foreign-owned company according to the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Another employee in sales said most of Google’s sales force in China were also employed by the same company and not by Beijing Guxiang Information Technology, the joint venture.
“They have their R&D perfectly firewalled off, so they can continue to keep those people at work even if google.cn closes down,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA, a Beijing-based telecoms and media consultancy.
