Google Is in Talks With Tencent and Inspur for China Cloud, Sources Say
- Local partnerships would give Google political cover to return
- Talks began early this year but U.S.-China trade tensions loom
Tencent’s headquarters in Shenzhen.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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Google’s plans for China are even more ambitious than previously understood.
The internet giant is in talks with Tencent Holdings Ltd., Inspur Group and other Chinese companies to offer its cloud services in the world’s second-largest economy, according to people familiar with the discussions. The discussions began in early 2018 and Google narrowed partnership candidates to three firms in late March, according to one of the people. Trade tensions between China and the U.S. now loom over the effort, making it unclear whether the plans will proceed, this person said.