Like a lot of major American companies, Google has had some issues dealing with the Chinese government. In fact, Google hasn’t invested any resources in the country for years and last year the government blocked all of Google’s major services including Gmail, Google Maps and Google Drive. It goes without saying that this is a bit of a problem for a company as ambitious as Google since China’s fast-growing economy represents a huge opportunity for every major tech firm. Thankfully for Google, it seems to have an ace up its sleeve in the form of Android.

China has been viewed as a lost cause for Google ever since its services were hurt by government interference and strong domestic competitors. But Android is proving to be a significant backdoor into China for Google’s Web services. The mobile software, which Google makes available to handset makers, powers the vast majority of China’s hundreds of millions of smartphones and tablets in use.