It's still unclear what headway has been made in the negotiations between Google and the Chinese government over last year's phishing attacks, however Google representatives have announced that a resolution is indeed near.

Though China maintains that it has not yet received an official complaint, it has offered to "severely punish" the offenders if Google hands over evidence of wrongdoing.

Reuters reports that Vice Minister Miao Wei was quoted in state controlled media, saying that "if Google has had evidence that the attacks came from China, the Chinese government will welcome them to provide the information and will severely punish the offenders according to the law".

"If Google decides to continue its business in China and abides by China's laws, it's welcome to stay".

"If the company chooses to withdraw from the Chinese market, it must go through certain procedures according to the law and regulations and deal with customers' problems that may arise" he added.

The controversy stems from a sophisticated phishing attack which was launched against Google, several other companies, and human right activists late last year. The attacks have now been traced to two Chinese schools (although experts claim that the attacks are too sophisticated to be the work of amateurs), one with rumoured ties to the Chinese military.

While the Chinese government denied any knowledge of the attacks, Google all but threatened to pull out of China entirely, severing the ties which have already been strained due to China’s strict Internet censorship program, known as the Great Firewall of China.

What changes, if any, have been made to Google.cn since the attacks, are unknown.