Microsoft -- We'll spend $500 million for research in China this year

Google may be considering pulling out of China because of Chinese governmental censorship, but over at Microsoft, it's full speed ahead. Zhang Yaqin, head of Microsoft's Chinese R&D unit, says the company will spend $500 million on research and development in China this year, plus another $150 million on outsourced projects.

Steve Ballmer has already said that Microsoft won't pull out of China, so Zhang's statement should not come as a surprise. However, it is an indication of just how seriously Microsoft views the Chinese market.

Zhang, who is chairman of Microsoft's Asia-Pacific R&D Group, told Reuters that "Regardless of whether or not Google stays, we will aggressively promote our search and cloud computing (in Chna)."

Reuters notes that Microsoft has practically no share of the search market in China right now, with Baidu getting 63.9 percent, and Google getting 31.3 percent. Overall, according to the wire service, China's search market was worth $293 million in the third quarter.

That means at this point, Microsoft is getting chump change there, even though it will spend hundreds of millions on research and development this year. China is expected to eventually become the largest search market in the world, and Microsoft clearly believes that with Google potentially out of the way, and with a revamped Bing, it's got a shot at significant revenue.

But Google has shown there's more to business than revenue. Microsoft should follow Google's lead, and consider leaving China altogether if Chinese censorship continues.