MICROSOFT -SHUTTING- LINKEDIN : CHINA

REDMOND :  Microsoft is shutting down its Linkedin Service in China later this year after Internet rules were tightened by Beijing - the latest American tech giant to lessen its ties to the country.

The company said in a blogpost Thursday  it has faced a ''significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China.

Linkedin will replace its localized platform in China with a new app called inJobs that has some of Linkedin's career-networking features but will not include a a social feed or the ability to share posts or articles.

Linkedin in March said it would pause new member sign-ups on Linkedin China because of unspecified regulatory issues.

China's Internet watchdog in May said it had found Linkedin as well as Microsoft's Bing search engine and about 100 other apps were engaged in improper collection and use of  data and ordered them to fix the problem. [AP]