[askaboutit]

Google does not rely on the Chinese market. If anything the Chinese rely on western markets and that includes the startups and factories within China. They’re going to need the western market more than their own in the future. Rich nations import and export. China’s exporting far more than its importing.

[isserson]

I doesn't rely on China because it decided to leave. Now it has to come back, or it will be shut out of a market of billions.

China is either the first or second largest world economy based on how you want to measure. It's rapid growth alone will assure Chinese economic power if not outright hegemony for the next century. China is also growing it's sphere of influence. Google is a corporation like any other, and if it misses the boat on getting into the Chinese market while it is still developing, it could be the Sears of search tomorrow.

Rich nations get rich by developing their economies. I don't think anyone has done that better than China. The US economy is exporting soybeans and shuffling debt. Who produces all of the high technology and is constantly innovating in the energy sector of tomorrow? China has seized the commanding heights of the economy.

But yeah, really, the world's biggest market is vital for Google.

[fx32s]

China is indeed catching up. Production of technology is done there because labor is cheap (being a producer does not imply innovation). Chinese companies still have a way to go to become mainstream in the western world. The blade cuts both ways, China needs the west at least as much as the other way around.