Tencent and Google, two of the biggest global tech titans, are to cross-license patents on a broad range of products and technologies and said they are “open” to deeper collaboration on future innovations.

While the US group has signed similar deals in the past, including with Samsung and LG of Korea, this is its first in China, a country where its search engine has been blocked since 2010. For now the deal means neither party will sue the other for infringing patents – a factor the duo said would speed up development by removing legal barriers – and gives each freedom to access the other’s patent portfolio.

Chinese companies are increasingly dominating the patent league tables, although some of the patents registered contain only minimal tweaks from existing ones. Along with Alibaba, Tencent, the tech conglomerate founded by Pony Ma, dominates the internet market in China with a range of services spanning gaming, social media and shopping.