Google is still in talks with Beijing over its plans to return to the mainland Chinese market, according to a senior Chinese lawmaker and former top official with knowledge of the negotiations.

"China has been in touch with Google through various channels. Last year, leaders of our country's important department had further communication with Google," said Liu Binjie, a standing committee member of the National People's Congress and former head of the General Administration of Press and Publication.

Google Scholar, a search engine for scholarly literature, was among the services on Beijing's priority list for re-entry, according to Liu, who was speaking to the Sunday Morning Post on the sidelines of the China's annual plenary sessions in Beijing on Friday.

There was hope that a part of Google's business would return to China first, gradually followed by others, the lawmaker said.