So maybe the recent PR storm was all just PR after all. BBC:
Google boss Eric Schmidt has said he expects the internet giant to be granted a new licence to operate in China.
There had been speculation China would revoke the licence after Google began redirecting Chinese users to its unfiltered search site in Hong Kong.
This was in protest at China's stringent censorship laws.
But last month, Google said it would no longer automatically redirect users in a conciliatory move towards Beijing.
