Google Inc. is considering bringing a version of its Play mobile-app store to China, a tentative but important step back into a country that Google mostly exited in 2010.

In recent months, Google representatives in Asia told makers of apps for its Android mobile-operating system that it hopes to unveil a new app store in China to help them distribute their apps and games more efficiently, according to two people briefed on its plans.

In Google’s absence, there are multiple Android app stores in China, spawning piracy and prompting many developers to hire large teams just to manage relations with the stores. In the U.S., just two app stores dominate— Apple ’s App Store for iPhones and iPads and Google’s Play Store for Android mobile devices.

To bring order to the app chaos in China, and boost revenue, Google wants to open a version of its Play Store there, offering a single entry point through which Android apps and games could be distributed, one developer briefed on the plan said.

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.