may finally bring the ay Store Android ar to the world’s most populous country. 

A report from The Information says the Internet giant is close to a deal with the Chinese government that would finally give more equal footing with Apple in the battle over mobile devices content.

y this matters: In the absence of a centralized app storefront, Android is tremendously fragmented in China as phone manufacturers have crafted their own Android variants application storefronts. That kind of disjointed experience makes an ione all the more appealing for Chinese consumers. It’s also bad news for Android developers, who are shut out of a major market for selling their apps.

Bursting through the Great Firewall

To win over Chinese officials, is pledging to block apps the government deems objectionable to follow all local laws. It’s a reversal of when the company left China in 2009 set up shop in Hong Kong over its belief the government was too restrictive hacked into its computers. 

But six years later, needs China more than ever. Android is a critical part of ’s future, as there are millions of devices running the open source version of the operating system without any access to certain service, apps, or the ay Store. That’s a lot of app sales, ad clicks, paid services that is losing out on.

The path will be tough. ong with the popularity of Apple’s devices, Qihoo 360, Tencent Holdings, Baidu are the key content application distributors. so the rollout will be slow, as the article says the ay Store will only launch on devices running Android Marshmallow that have been approved for sale in China.

The other key piece of ’s re-entry to China is Android ar. The Huawei tch looks impressive, getting it sold in China could be a good boost. The report indicates is working on voice-assistant capabilities in Marin to give the watches, which now work with the ione, more appeal.