Google has admitted that its controversial Chinese site is operating without its own licence, but denied that the search engine is breaking local rules.

A spokeswoman for the company said that Google.cn is using the internet content provider (ICP) licence of a partner site, Ganji.com.

"Google has a partnership with Ganji.com through which we have the required licence to operate the Google.cn service in China," the spokeswoman said. She declined to say why the site, launched controversially last month, had not obtained a licence of its own.

The company was responding to reports in the Beijing News, which said that Chinese authorities were investigating the company for failing to comply with local laws. "Without a licence, foreign capital is not allowed to engage in telecom business, including ICP operations," the report stated.

The newspaper said that China's Ministry of Information was aware of the status of Google’s Chinese operations and that authorities were investigating the incident.

Google has been widely criticised for launching its Chinese service, which censors search results according to a range of subjects proscribed by the Beijing government, including democracy, Tibetan independence and pornography. A US congressional committee last week accused Google and other internet companies of a "sickening and evil" collaboration with the Chinese government.

Explore Tech & Web

• Personal Tech

• The Web

• Gadgets & Gaming