US-China trade and economic ties will not be affected by any Google Inc. decision to withdraw from China, said Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian at a regular briefing. However, he insisted foreign companies must obey Chinese law.

“China will still strictly adopt a policy of openness and offer a good investment environment,” Yao said. “We emphasize that foreign companies including Google should all follow international standards and respect local law and regulations and local culture and customs to shoulder social responsibility.”

The loss of such a high- profile company would be an embarrassment to communist leaders, who want to make China a technology leader. But the ruling party sees control over information as critical to maintaining its monopoly on power.

US-Chinese ties are periodically strained by disputes over trade, human rights and US support for self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by Beijing as its own territory. But the two sides maintain dialogue in a series of forums and say they want constructive relations.

The White House applauded Google’s announcement that it would stop censoring search results in China and might close its China-based Google.com site after hacking attacks on its Gmail e-mail service. But other companies appear unlikely to follow suit and challenge China’s Internet controls.
Yao said the Commerce Ministry has received no formal notice that Google plans to leave China.

Some employees of Google’s Beijing development center were at work after the staff were given a day off following the announcement. Employees declined to talk to reporters.