Google must not give up on the Chinese market

The blocking of Gmail in China has caused heartbreak and despair for hundreds of millions of Chinese users. I know this because I am one of them. I started to use Gmail at the invitation of a Spanish friend in 2004, having become familiar with Google, based on a recommendation from a professor in Canada, about two years earlier.

Such memories have become an indelible part of my life.

Today, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to access Gmail in China. In fact, in the past year, it has often been a very painful process to log in, or even to use Google. So, in the hope of changing things, I write an open letter to the CEO of Google, Larry Page:

Dear Larry,

! This open letter comes from an ordinary Chinese Gmail user. It is hard for me to accept the reality that I cannot use Gmail in China any more. This problem can only be solved through sincere communication with the Chinese regulators, so Google has a decisive role to play.

Whether the communication could be effective largely depends on Google's attitude towards the Chinese market. I would like to bring the following points to your attention, with the hope that Google will not give up on the Chinese market.

First, although Google has been extremely successful, completely giving up on the Chinese market would be irresponsible to your shareholders. Being isolated from the world's second-largest economy, as well as 20 per cent of the global population, means that many future opportunities would be missed.