Bottom line: Baidu's first-ever loss since going public reflects a long-anticipated decline for its core search business, which could mark the start of a longer-term decline due to lack of a strong new business lines.

Bottom line: Amazon's withdrawal from selling domestic goods to local buyers in China was inevitable due to its lack of a standout service and cut-throat competition from Alibaba and the money-losing JD.com.

The e-commerce headlines have been buzzing these last few days with word that global giant Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is abandoning China, representing the latest setback for a western Internet company in the large market. Amazon has come out with some statements clarifying the matter, in a mo...

Bottom line: A major new campaign calling on Google to abandon its plan to return to China's search market will add pressure on the company to reconsider its decision, but is unlikely to succeed unless the pressure grows significantly stronger.

Bottom line: Google's decision to finally talk openly about its plan to return to China looks smart though slightly late, by explaining the desperate need for alternatives in the massive though tightly controlled search market.

Bottom line: An internal petition calling on Google to be more transparent about its plans to return to China represents the first major backlash to the move, but is unlikely to dissuade the company from going ahead.

Bottom line: A new report on Google's plan to launch a new China search engine within the next year looks credible, and underscores the company's decision to put the market's big potential ahead of the negative backlash such a move will bring.

Bottom line: Facebook and Google's latest micro-moves into China reflect their longer term efforts to get permission to launch major services in the market, though it's unclear if they will get such a green-light anytime soon.

Bottom line: Baidu's anti-competitive behavior alleged in a lawsuit by Jinri Toutiao won't have a long-term effect on its stock, but will draw the attention of an increasingly assertive anti-trust regulator.

Toutiao sues Baidu for manipulating search results

Bottom line: Google has quietly resumed updates of its China mapping service in a bid to tap the booming local market for location-based services.

Google resumes China mapping updates

Bottom line: Google's launch of a China AI lab marks the latest step in its campaign to curry favor with Beijing, which could give it a 50-50 chance of being allowed to sell its Pixel phones and open a China Google Play store in 2018.

Google's China return like watching grass grow

Bottom line: Twitter's conservative approach to China reflects a broader indecision at the company that is limiting its growth potential.

Twitter shackled by indecision in China

While social networking giant Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) actively flirts with China in a bid to enter the world's largest Internet market, the smaller, struggling Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) seems unable to make up its mind. That seems to be the key takeaway from a new interview on the prickly subject of Chi...

Bottom line: Attendance of Google's CEO at China's premier Internet event marks a continuation of its slow return to China, while appearances by top Apple, Qualcomm and Microsoft executives are more expected.

Western tech execs hobnob at Internet conference

As we head into the new week, the headlines are filled with the latest words of wisdom on the future of the Internet from some of China's leading company chiefs, who were all in the scenic city of Wuzhen for a major c...

Bottom line: Whatsapp has likely been permanently blocked in China, while Satya Nadella's visit to Xiaomi underscores Microsoft's growing ties  with the company, and Google's China AI push is mostly PR.

Whatsapp booted from China?

A couple of the big high-tech multinationals are in the headlines as we head into the next-to-last month of the year, which seems like a good opportunity to review where these companies stand heading into the second term of President Xi Jinping...

Bottom line: Google's purchase of HTC's Pixel assets is a sign of no confidence in HTC's chances of longer-term survival as an independent smartphone maker.

Google's HTC purchase: reason for optimism or pessimism

Bottom line: Google's campaign to build a China-based artificial intelligence team is at least partly designed to woo Beijing, as part of its broader effort to get permission to open a China-based Google Play app store.

Google Play edging towards China?

加利福尼亚州山景城 – 5月17日：2017年5月17日，美国加利福尼亚州山景城海岸线圆形剧场，谷歌首席执行官桑达·皮查伊在2017年Google I/O大会上发表主旨演讲。（图片：Justin Sullivan/Getty Images）

5月在加利福尼亚举行的谷歌年度开发者大会Google I/O为大家带来了不同于其他技术巨头的创新和精彩，而其中有几点我特别关注的部分，就是对机器学习与虚拟现实的进一步发展。

备受期待的Android O发布

Android已实现了重要里程碑——运行该操作系统的月度活跃设备已达到20亿台。谷歌表示，Android O旨在为设备带...

Bottom line: Google will get permission from Beijing to open a Chinese version of its app Play Store later this year, most likely through a joint venture with NetEase or Tencent.

Google, NetEase talk China Play Store JV

Bottom line: The departure of former Google executive Hugo Barra from Xiaomi marks the end of a chapter for the smartphone maker, which stands only a 50-50 chance of surviving over the next 5 years in the cutthroat market.

Xiaomi's Barra heads back to US

The world was all abuzz in 2013 when Hugo Barra suddenly gave up his cozy position as a high executive at Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) to join a then-little-known Chinese smartphone maker called Xiaomi. Gossip swirled that his ...

Bottom line: Tencent's new investment in Nokia's former mapping unit Here reflects the Chinese herd mentality to pile into new technologies, but also looks like a relatively savvy way to enter the space by pairing with experienced partners.

Tencent ties with mapping giant Here

Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) doesn't want to be left behind in the race with rivals Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) into self-driving new energy cars that may someday dominate t...

Bottom line: Google's new launch of a China-based developers site marks a partial return to the Chinese web, but its higher-profile return to the consumer market with a Chinese Google Play app store probably won't come until next year.

Google launches China developer site

After more than a year of speculation, global search leader Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is finally back in China. Or at least sort of. The tech world is certainly buzzing about this latest development, which ...