Google today announced that it has enabled merchant support in China allowing local developers to distribute their apps in more than 130 countries worldwide. 

Developers in China will be able to upload both free and paid apps on Google Play, though they will have to sign up for a Google Wallet account as well for the latter. The company will be paying out developers via wire transfer in USD currency. By uploading their apps and games to Google Play, Chinese developers would be able to distribute them to more than a billion users in over 130 countries of the world.

Ironically enough, the Google Play Store is blocked in China, which means that any app uploaded by Chinese developers will not be available for download to the locals in the country. Here’s hoping that the company manages to sort bring Play Store access to people in China sometime soon, though the chances of it happening are pretty bleak.

Nevertheless, enabling merchant support in China is a huge step by Google, which should lead to some quality as well low-quality malware filled apps to make their way to the Play Store.