Google Plans Third Chinese R&D Center

As the occidental expansion strategies concerning the Chinese market become increasingly opened, the Mountain View, California-based company is spearheading the tendency. In this context, Google has announced, as reported by Shanghai Daily that is quoting Kaifu Lee, a Google vice-president in China, that the search giant will debut the development of a third R&D center in the homeland of Mount Everest.

The research and development center is scheduled for opening in Shanghai in the span of next year. Basing its fundamental efforts on home territory of a market that has immense potential for exploitation, Google aims to reserve an advantage that will bring it closer to its main Chinese rival Baidu.com. According to Analysys International, a Chinese market researcher, Google China lags behind Baidu and Yahoo owning an estimated 13.2% of the local search engine market.

Kaifu Lee has disclosed to the local media that Google's target for 2006 is to double the number of Chinese Websites that implement its advertising services. In this context, Google China is hiring staff in Shanghai to join its existing 100 engineers working at its Beijing and Taipei centers. Google estimates that it will triple its local workforce over the coming year.