US internet search giant Google says its licence to operate in China, the world's largest internet market, has been renewed.
The renewal comes after a period of uncertainty over the licence and follows a stand-off between Google and the Chinese authorities over state censorship.
In March, Google said it would no longer bow to government censors and effectively shut down its Chinese search engine, re-routing mainland users to its uncensored site in Hong Kong. But last week, the company reversed that decision out of concerns for the renewal of its licence.
Currently all mainland users are directed to a new landing page on google.cn, a website in China that now has links to the Hong Kong site. Google has said it believes this approach complies with Chinese law.
'It was clear we had to end the redirect,' the Financial Times quoted Google CEO Eric Schmidt as telling a symposium in the US on Thursday.
China has more than 400 million web users, according to official data.
