Chinese users have mixed feelings about LinkedIn departure

After nearly seven years in China, LinkedIn says it will stop operating its localized version of the platform, replacing it with a jobs listing site

HONG KONG -- For nearly seven years, LinkedIn has been the only major Western social networking platform still operating in China. People like 32-year-old Jason Liu view it as an important career enhancing tool.

Come the end of the year, Liu will no longer have access to the localized version of LinkedIn, after Microsoft, which acquired the platform in 2016, said last week that it would pull out, citing a “significantly more challenging operating environment.”

“It’s a shame,” said Liu, who works in the technology industry in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen and uses the site to network with other professionals online. “LinkedIn gave me a platform to post about my results at work, such as my achievements and promotions, which aren’t always appropriate to post on other platforms like WeChat.”

LinkedIn will be replaced in China by a jobs posting site called InJobs, without a social media feed and capability for sharing content, Microsoft said.