BEIJING, February 16 (TMTPOST) — Social networking platform LinkedIn’s China team announced that it has adjusted its development strategy and will focus on localization.

LinkedIn China rolled out a mobile app version dedicated to the local market last December, removing LinkedIn’s social media function. The China version mainly provides job-hunting information for job seekers and recruitment services for businesses.

LinkedIn China decided to remove the social media function because it found the competition in China was too fierce. “In the past 18 years, LinkedIn has grown into an important social media and recruiting platform. But LinkedIn’s social media platform is still very small in China after seven years of operation when compared with other social media platforms,” Lu Jian, LinkedIn China’s president said. “But we have great advantages in hiring, especially in mid and high-end hiring and overseas hiring.”

LinkedIn said that the localized application in China will help users find career opportunities and employers find their ideal candidates. It is the first step in LinkedIn China’s strategic adjustment, the company said.

The adjustment marks LinkedIn China’s entry into the 3.0 phase. In the 3.0 phase, LinkedIn China will stick to its vision of “connecting limitless opportunities” that was brought up in 2019 and focus on the talent market and internationalization services.

LinkedIn China rolled out InCareer at the year-end of 2021, providing one-stop career development services for users. The company pledges to continue to help enterprises with their internationalization strategies and human resource plans.

“In China, LinkedIn is gradually building a business ecosystem that serves both the Chinese market and international market,” Lu said. “In China, we will build up and refine an ecosystem of talents to better connect professional talents and employers. Internationally, we will develop services to help Chinese companies in their overseas expansion and bridge the gap between the Chinese economy and the rest of the world.”

“We are more than just a job-hunting platform. People have varying needs in different phases of their career. LinkedIn hopes to provide adequate value for professional talents’ different career development phases,” Lu explained. “For example, we have a product called ‘Career Guide’ for people who have just entered the workforce. For veteran professionals, we have products such as ‘Career Mentor’ and ‘Skill Improvement’, etc. to help them advance their career.”