It seems that Google may have found the great firewall of China too hard to breach.

The UK Financial Times says talks between Shanghai and the world’s largest internet search engine have reached an apparent dead end.

Google is now reportedly “99.9 percent” sure that it will eventually shut its Chinese operation, the paper reports.

Relations cooled in January after what Google described as a “sophisticated” cyber attack in which the web accounts of Chinese human rights activists were targeted.

Talks since then have focused on providing an unfiltered service, but within Chinese law.

But the indications are these may have now foundered.

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