Google 'yet to apply for Web mapping nod'

BEIJING - No application has been received from Google Inc to provide Internet mapping services in China, authorities said on Wednesday, raising fresh uncertainty since the US search engine renewed its Chinese website license two months ago.

Song Chaozhi, deputy director general of the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM), told China Daily that about 70 to 80 firms had submitted their applications since the bureau introduced a new regulation in May that required companies providing online map and location services in China to apply for approval.

"Although Google has made some initial contact with us, it has not officially submitted an application," said Song. He noted that the Finnish cell phone maker Nokia was the only foreign firm to have applied.