GMail is completely blocked in China

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The Wall Street Journal reports that China has finally blocked access to the GMail mail service from its territory. Half a year ago, Chinese users lost access to the web interface, but they still had the opportunity to work with mail through third-party applications like Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail (via IMAP, SMTP and POP3). Now the “great Chinese firewall” has cut off this connection. Since December 26, according to Google statistics, access to their mail from mainland China is no longer available. “The problem is not on our side,” a Google spokesman in Singapore said.

China has not yet officially commented on this event, moreover, at the daily meeting with the press, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chiuning stated that she was not aware of such initiatives, and that "the government always welcomes the work of foreign business in China."

Meanwhile, GreatFire.org , a Chinese group fighting for freedom of speech, confirms the shutdown of GMail. “We think the government is trying to eliminate the influence of Google in China and weaken its position in the market abroad. Imagine that foreign customers will not be able to contact their Chinese partners. People will have to change the postal service. ”
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The traditional way to bypass blocking in China is VPN. Now they will have to use and to send and receive mail.