Authorities in China have approved Google Inc.s bid to buy phone maker Motorola Mobility, clearing the way for the $12.5 billion deal to close early next week.

When Google (GOOG) announced its intention to spend $12.5 billion on the mobile phone maker—one of its own Android hardware partners—the purchase was considered to be a play for Motorola’s mobile patents.

US and European regulators approved the deal in February, leaving only the Chinese regulators as potential spoilers.

The Chinese government approved the deal on Saturday, May 19, 2012, Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick said.

Thus, MMI’s patents would be important for protecting Android and improving mobile economics, as we estimate Google pays Apple roughly 75 percent revenue share to be the default in the Safari search bar, which we estimate accounts for roughly one third of all mobile queries.

And defend itself and Android phone manufacturers in patent litigation.

A main condition of the deal is that the Android system remain free and open for five years, said a source who is familiar with the Chinese approval but not authorized to discuss it.

“We are pleased that the deal has received approval in all jurisdictions and we expect to close early next week,” Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch Erickson said.

Phaedon George is a business journalist based in Hobart, Australia. Phaedon has a passion for financial markets and breaking news stories and loves writing about business news, stock market, and economic opinions that matters most to its audience. Phaedon spends a lot of time discovering and researching latest financial markets and industry news stories in order to make sure the latest and greatest stories are brought to you first on BigBoardNews.com.