China is dropping an antitrust probe into Google, as Beijing and Washington step up negotiations over TikTok, Nvidia and trade at a time of heightened tensions between the superpowers. The State Administration for Market Regulation has decided to terminate its competition investigation against Google, a status known as “zhongzhi” in Chinese, said two people briefed on the decision. The Google investigation, which was formally opened in February, centred on the dominance of the US group’s Android operating system and its impact on Chinese phonemakers, such as Oppo and Xiaomi, that use the software. The decision signals a tactical recalibration by Beijing, which is now concentrating its regulatory firepower on Nvidia, the world’s most valuable chipmaker, as a point of leverage in US-China trade talks, according to the two people.

Full report : China drops its antitrust probe into Google, opened in February over Android dominance and its impact on Chinese phonemakers, amid US-China trade talks.