Google services blocked in China

The Chinese government appeared to block access to Google services, including Google search, Gmail and Google Maps, in the country on Friday.

The move comes as China's Communist Party is confirming top government officials during its National Congress.

Google's Transparency Report, which tracks traffic to Google sites from around the world, showed an abrupt collapse in traffic from China on Friday.

"We've checked and there's nothing wrong on our end," a Google spokeswoman said.

It is unclear whether the disruption is a temporary measure to restrict dissent as the Communist Party chooses new leaders or whether it is a permanent policy change.

China uses filters to restrict its citizens access to online information. Google has had a contentious relationship with the Chinese government and earlier this year began warning Chinese users about search terms that might trigger Chinese censors.

---