Google’s Play Store could come to China through NetEase as they have approached Google about entering a partnership that would allow Google to break back into the Chinese market. The partnership would see both the Play Store and the Google app made available in the region so that users of Android devices would finally be able to get official access to Google’s app store and collection of applications, games, and media. At the moment the partnership is just a rumor with no confirmation from Google or NetEase that they have been in discussion about these plans.
With the partnership likely to be in nothing more than a discussion phase at the moment, there is still no guarantee that Google will end up entering an agreement with NetEase that will lead to the Play Store and the Google App being made available to users within the country. If discussions are happening and they end up going further than just discussions, there’s no telling how long it may take before Google’s two services will be live for use, but when and if it ever reaches that point the Chinese versions of Google’s app and the Play Store will probably be censored to a point, which means not all the content that’s available in most other countries where the Play Store is available will be available to users in China.
While Google’s plans to bring their products back to China have yet to stick, there is no reason not to think that this potential plan to use NetEase as a partner might work, as NetEase has worked with other companies in a partnership for the same reasons they’re rumored to be attempting to work with Google and with much success. At this point though, there is no information on when Google might launch the Play Store in China and this includes the lack of a rumored launch date. Chances are that if the rumor is accurate, once things move past a discussion and an agreement is actually made, then there will be more details about when Google and NetEase will move forward with their plans for the launch of both apps.