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Google Translate app no longer available in China, marking US tech giant’s latest retreat from world’s biggest internet market

  • The popular app has been inaccessible to its tens of millions of users across mainland China since Saturday
  • Users are redirected to a generic search bar, which suggests bookmarking the app’s Hong Kong webpage that is also inaccessible on the mainland

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The Google Translate app’s Chinese website recorded 53.5 million visits from desktop and mobile users combined in August, according to data from Similarweb. Photo: Shutterstock
Xinmei Shen
Google Translate, one of the few remaining consumer services that the US tech giant made available in mainland China, is no longer accessible in the country, marking the company’s latest retreat from the world’s largest internet market.

The app has been inaccessible to mainland Chinese users since Saturday. They have been redirected to a generic search bar, with a notice asking users to bookmark the service’s Hong Kong webpage, which is also inaccessible on the mainland.

The built-in translation function on Google’s Chrome browser has also become unavailable in the country, according to various user posts on Chinese social media.

The move to discontinue Google Translate’s service in China was first reported by TechCrunch. Google told the American online news site that the app’s pullback was “due to low usage” on the mainland.

A bouquet of flowers lies on the logo of Google, outside the US tech giant’s former headquarters in Beijing, in this picture taken on January 14, 2010, days after the company exited the mainland. Photo: Agence France-Presse
A bouquet of flowers lies on the logo of Google, outside the US tech giant’s former headquarters in Beijing, in this picture taken on January 14, 2010, days after the company exited the mainland. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

While a number of Chinese technology companies provide a range of translation services, the Google Translate app has a large user base in the country. In August, the Chinese Google Translate website recorded 53.5 million visits from desktop and mobile users combined, according to data on web analytics platform Similarweb.

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