Microsoft to abandon LinkedIn in China, subject to strict regulations

New York – US computer giant Microsoft announced Thursday that it will shut down its LinkedIn professional network in China by the end of the year, justifying its decision because of “a difficult operating environment.”

The Redmond (Washington) group launched in February 2014 a local version of its platform for the Chinese market, with limited functionality to comply with the strict rules that govern the Internet in the country.

“While we have been successful in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunities, we have not been as successful in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed,” Mohak Shroff, LinkedIn’s director of engineering, said in a statement.

“We are also facing a difficult operating environment and higher requirements for compliance with current regulations in China,” he added.

According to the Wall Street Journal, LinkedIn had received a call to the request in March from the Chinese Internet gendarme, who had given it 30 days to better regulate its content.

LinkedIn said a new app for career candidates, called InJobs, will soon launch in China to replace its platform.

Microsoft, which bought LinkedIn in 2016 for more than $ 26 billion, was the last US technology pillar to have a sustained and legal presence on the Chinese Internet.

Social media Facebook and Twitter have been banned there for more than a decade. Google left the country in 2010.

Amazon’s site can be accessed from China, but the e-commerce giant has never really entered a market dominated by local players like Alibaba or JD.com.