Google loses its man in China, and a foothold in world's largest market

News came out Friday that Google (GOOG)'s search chief in China, Kai-Fu Lee, was leaving to head a new venture, as reported on DailyFinance. Much speculation about Lee's departure centered on the new venture, but very little focused on what this departure means in real terms for Google.

In a nutshell, it could throw a major wrench into Google's accelerating China strategy. The search giant has long struggled to compete in China. Homegrown competitor Baidu (BIDU) has dominated China's search-engine market, with the government's tacit support. Public sentiment in China strongly favors local companies, regarding Western rivals like Google with suspicion.