China blocks Microsoft’s Bing search engine

Microsoft’s Bing search engine has been blocked in China, the company says, making it the latest foreign technology service to be shut down behind the country’s Great Firewall.

Chinese authorities operate a firewall that blocks many US tech platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.

Microsoft hasn't said if the outage may be due to censorship or is merely a technical problem.

“We’ve confirmed that Bing is currently inaccessible in China and are engaged to determine next steps,” the company said in a statement.

It is the US technology giant’s second setback in China since November 2017 when its Skype internet phone call and messaging service was pulled from Apple and Android app stores.

A search performed on Bing’s China website – cn.bing.com – from within mainland China directs the user to a page that says the server cannot be reached.

Many US tech companies are keen to tap into the Chinese market but have a difficult relationship with the authorities in Beijing.

Bing was the only major foreign search engine accessible from within China’s so-called Great Firewall. Microsoft censored search results on sensitive topics, in accordance with government policy.

Microsoft also has a partnership with Chinese data centre provider 21Vianet to offer its products Azure and Office 365 to clients in the country.

Alphabet’s Google search platform has been blocked in China since 2010. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, said in December it had “no plans” to relaunch a search engine in China though it is continuing to study the idea amid increased scrutiny of big tech firms.

President Xi Jinping has accelerated control of the internet in China since 2016, as the ruling communist party has sought to crack down on dissent in social media.

In a statement on Wednesday, CAC said it had deleted more than 7m pieces of online information and 9,382 mobile apps. It also criticized technology company Tencent’s news app for spreading “vulgar information.”