Chinese access to Gmail blocked

BEIJING – Chinese access to Google Inc.’s email service has been blocked amid government efforts to limit or possibly ban access to the U.S. company’s services, which are popular among Chinese who seek to avoid government monitoring.

Data from Google’s Transparency Report show online traffic from China to Gmail fell precipitously on Friday and dropped to nearly zero on Saturday, although there was a tiny pickup on Monday.

Earl Zmijewski, vice president of data analytics at U.S.-based Internet analysis firm Dyn Research, said his tests showed that China’s government had blocked Google IP addresses in Hong Kong used by people on the mainland to access Gmail services.