Google 'quite committed' to staying in China

In a conference call with analysts following its earnings announcement, CEO Eric Schmidt said that the company is in conversations with the Chinese government, and would like to see its opportunities there be successful.

We've made a strong statement that we wish to remain in China, Schmidt said. We like the business opportunities there and we'd like to do that on somewhat different terms than we have, but we remain quite committed to being there.

The comments come after Google raised allegations last week that cyber-attacks against it were originating from within China. The company threatened to pull out, and also said it would discontinue censoring its search results in the country.

He was speaking shortly after Google had reported a rebound in its core search advertising business in the fourth quarter of last year.

The profit of nearly $2 billion Thursday topped analyst estimates, but revenue only matched forecasts.

Google's earnings per share jumped to $6.79 from $5.10 a year before, ahead of the official $6.43 forecast.

Given that the global economy is still in the early days of recovery, this was an extraordinary end to the year, said Schmidt said.