Google declared on Monday that it will leave from China on April 10, according to a source in a Beijing-based newspaper that cited a nameless sales correlate who works with the company.

"I have get information saying that Google will depart China on April 10, but this news has not at present been confirmed by Google," the China Business News quoted the agent as saying. The report also said Google would change its plans for its China-based staff that day.

Google did not instantly respond to a request for comment. Google, which has a considerable share of the search market in China, declared in January that it no longer planned to censor search results in that country and would consider leaving entirely. Google has known China as the source of attacks on prominent U.S. Web properties and e-mail accounts going to human rights activists, though it has not exposed the particular people behind them. For its part, the Chinese government has denied any participation.

After months of discussions over whether it can run Google.cn with or without limitations, it seemed that Google was getting ready to make a decision in the near-term future. Though, according to a Financial Times report last week, Google is now "99.9 %" certain that it will shut down Google.cn.

The Chinese government has reportedly warned Google business partners get ready for the day when they cannot use Google services like a search bar on their Web sites. past week, Google set that it had received a letter supposedly signed by 27 advertising partners in China that complained of a lack of communication on the part of Google and demanded to know how they would be rewarded if the company withdrew from China.