Google closes down the translation service in China

October 4, 2022: -On Monday, Alphabet’s Google said it shut down the Google Translate service in mainland China, citing low usage.

The move marks the end of one of its final remaining products in the second-largest economy in the world.

The dedicated continent China website for Google Translate now redirects users to the Hong Kong version of the service. Although, this is not accessible from mainland China.

“We are discontinuing Google Translate in mainland China due to low usage,” Google said in a statement.

Google has included a fraught connection with the Chinese market. The U.S. technology giant pulled its search engine from China in 2010 because of strict government censorship online. Its other services, such as Google Maps and Gmail, are also effectively blocked by the Chinese government.

As a result, local competitors such as search engine Baidu, social media, and gaming giant Tencent have come to dominate the Chinese internet landscape from search to translation.

Google has a minimal presence in China these days. Some of its hardware, including smartphones, are made in China. But The New York Times reported last month that Google had shifted some production of its Pixel smartphones to Vietnam.

The company is also looking to get Chinese developers to make apps for its Android working system globally that will then be available via the Google Play Store, even though that’s blocked in China.

In 2018, Google explored reentering China with its search engine but ultimately scrapped that project after backlash from employees and politicians.

American businesses have been caught in the middle of continued tensions in the technology sphere between the U.S. and China. Washington continues to fret over China’s probable access to sensitive technologies such as synthetic intelligence and semiconductors.

In August, U.S. chipmaker Nvidia announced that Washington would restrict the company’s sales of specific components to China.