Tech giant Google is considering returning to mainland China, five years after the company left the market because it refused to obey the Chinese government's controls, according to local reports.

The company left mainland China in 2010 after it decided it would no longer obey the Chinese government's insistence that it filter search results.

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In March of 2010, after the company accused the Chinese government of launching a cyber attack on it and other U.S. tech companies, it began redirecting its Web traffic search queries to its servers in Hong Kong, which weren't subject to the same oversight rules as mainland China. Google's Internet mail service Gmail has not been available in mainland China since last year.

The reports reinforce statements made by Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet, in a speech earlier this month at the TechCrunch conference in Beijing. Schmidt implied not just a return to the Chinese market, but that they never really severed ties with the country in the first place.

"The interesting thing is that Google never left China," he said. The company "has lots of partners [in China] and we have offices in Greater China - in Taiwan and Hong Kong."

According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the size of China's online population reached 668 million in June, with an Internet penetration rate of 48.8 percent.

IT news website The Information reported in September that Google is preparing a special China app store for Android devices.

"The moves will re-establish Google as an Internet services provider in mainland China," said the report. "As early as this fall, the company hopes to get Chinese government approval to distribute a special China version of its Google Play mobile app store for Android smartphones in the country." 

TagsGoogle May Take Another Crack at China, Mainland China, censorship, Cyber Attack, filter search results, Eric Schmidt, Alphabet, china internet network information center