Google moves to avert China crisis

Google is preparing to reopen talks with Chinese officials on the future of its business in the country, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal.

The paper said that "sources familiar with the matter" had confirmed that the talks will take place, but that any decision on whether Google will be allowed to offer uncensored search results would take several weeks.

The report also claimed that Google policy executive Ross LaJeunesse is already in China for the talks.

A Google spokesman said that the company could not comment on the rumour. " As we have repeatedly made clear, we are not going to engage in a running commentary about discussions we may or may not be having with the Chinese government," he said.

Google announced in January that it was considering leaving the country after a series of hacking attacks on its systems that appeared to originate from a source in China.

However, the company has since softened its stance. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said on 22 January that the web giant remains "quite committed to being in China", but that it would like to do so on "somewhat different terms than we have been".

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, meanwhile, said last week that he is optimistic that negotiations with China will be successful, even if it takes a couple of years.