The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology played a major role in urging Qihoo 360 and QQ.com to apologize to the public. The anti-virus software and instant messenger service had been blocking each other since early this month. The dispute finally came to an end on Monday morning, with both sides saying basically "we're sorry", and promising a return to compatability.

Chinese Internet users may go online normally again. On Sunday night, after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology urged QQ.com and Qihoo 360 to apologize to the public, the instant messenger service published an apology letter titled "We Are Always With You." The makers of the anti-virus software also put out a letter saying they were sorry, and emphasized that the two applications can now be used at the same time.

A Beijing internet user said, "I think this dispute is ridiculous! It has affected our rights as users!"

Another internet user said, "Finally! The government has done something! I can use the Internet normally again!"

The clash began in September, when Qihoo 360 developed an anti-virus plug-in for QQ, while uninstalling its games, and declaring that the instant messenger could access people's private data.

QQ retaliated by blocking users who also employ Qihoo 360 software in early November. This dispute, between the biggest Internet messenger company and fastest-growing anti-virus software company in the country, has affected hundreds of thousands Internet users.

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on its official website, on Sunday, that the two companies have been bad influences on society ... adding that they should stop their mutual attacks immediately, and make ensure their services to all customers.

Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology:

"Qihoo 360 and QQ.com should stop attacking each other immediately, and ensure their software services. They should enhance their mutual communication, and solve their problems according to national law. The two companies should learn lessons from this incident, standardize their behavior, and prevent similar incident from happening again."

Zhang Ni said, "This business dispute for almost two months came to an end with a State Ministry's involvement. Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says it will take further measures to ensure fairness in the Internet market. This incident can be an alert to all Internet business to respect the rules of fair play. Zhang Ni, CCTV, Beijing."