Google sees big potential in China
The search leader's CEO says future revenue growth in China 'will obviously be large.'
April 12, 2006: 6:06 AM EDT


BEIJING (Reuters) - Internet giant Google Inc. expects substantial revenue growth in China and will eventually have thousands of software engineers working there, Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said Wednesday.

"I don't know where (Chinese) revenue growth will be, but it will obviously be large," Schmidt told Reuters on the sidelines of a news conference.

 

Google (Research) would have 100 software engineers in China by the middle of 2006, Schmidt said. Asked how many the Web search leader ultimately planned to have, he said: "Eventually thousands."

Google came under fire in February from U.S. law-makers and some in China for accepting Chinese censors' demands that its new service in the mainland block links about sensitive topics, such as the 1989 anti-government protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

But Schmidt, speaking at the news conference, said Google had a responsibility to abide by the law in every country in which it does business.

"It is important to operate Google's worldwide service based on local law and local custom. It is not an option for us to broadly make information available that is illegal or inappropriate or immoral," he said.