Report: Google plans to hire 200 in China this year

Google wants be the search market leader in China within the next five years, and it's hiring the workforce to back up that desire.

Kai-Fu Lee, president of the Google's Greater China operation, said in a recent interview with Reuters that the company plans to add 30 percent, or 200 people, to its Chinese operations this year. Lee said the company will maintain that pace of hiring over the next three to five years, in an attempt to overtake Baidu.com as the leading search provider in that country. He said the new jobs will come largely in technology, sales, and marketing; and that the additional workforce will be focused on improving advertising click rates.

The news comes as Google has cut back on its typical voracious hiring practices overall. In the last two quarters, the company has brought on about 800 new employees worldwide, excluding acquisitions, about half the rate from the year-ago period.