Search giant Google has gone through with its threat to close its Chinese website after failing to reach agreement with authorities over censorship.
The Chinese government insisted that Google would have to censor its search results if it wanted to operate in the country, a situation the search company had previously accepted.
However, Google announced in January that it no longer intended to comply with the restrictions and began negotiations to see if an acceptable compromise could be reached.
The company says that it will now direct all Chinese search requests through its uncensored Hong Kong site instead, but says it cannot guarantee that access will not be blocked.
Most Chinese internet users will be unconcerned by Google's withdrawal though. By far the most popular search engine in China is the home-grown Baidu, which controls 63 per cent of the search market.
