LinkedIn to be in China as well
17
Apr 2009
With around four-million Chinese users accessing LinkedIn either through the English website or through LinkedIn mobile application, speculations are rife about a Chinese language for quite a long time now.
The decision about a Chinese language website for LinkedIn has been on the drawing board for nearly two years awaiting implementation – A point that Jeff Weiner, CEO, LinkedIn, put forth by saying that the plans for opening have been long in place along with many other considerations like China’s censorship of the Internet.
On Tuesday, it got implemented when LinkedIn launched its Chinese-language website. Hence, the domain of work-oriented social networking has just got bigger with LinkedIn’s entry in what is probably one of the world’s largest centers of business professionals.
The decision according to Weiner is aligned in a lot of ways to the Chinese government endeavors to put forth a lucrative economic opportunity for a prospering middle class. Quite a novel approach considering the business strategies of many other US companies that prefer to restrict their activities in China owing to Internet censorship.
An affinity for simplified Chinese characters, the estimates are likely that this new website will see approximately 140-million new professionals (numbers may defer). This would in turn probably increase the existing user base by 50%.
A look at China’s Internet censorship brings into light the following.
- Google no longer operates any servers from mainland China
- YouTube is inaccessible
- Gmail can be used only after following certain rules and regulations
A license application has been put into place and is still pending. However, the website will be capable of providing its primary services.
The CEO is optimistic about the future prospects and says that although many things are to be put into place, for example the logistics associated with censorship, however the future seems bright.
