Google has closed the “Google Translate” service in China

Google has closed the translation service Google Translate for users from mainland China. It remained available only in Hong Kong.

Bloomberg writes about it.

Google explained that they closed access to the service due to low demand. The translator was one of the last services the company provided in China.

Google began winding down operations in China in 2010 due to government censorship. Then the search engine was closed in China. In 2017, the company tried to return to the Chinese market by launching a language translation service, and also considered a separate prototype of the search engine, but the project was stopped.

Bloomberg notes that the shutdown of Google Translate comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China, as the countries try to increasingly protect sensitive technology and intellectual property.