LinkedIn was once perceived as a role model for internet companies entering China. Yet In 2019, the professional networking company shut down its China-only App Chitu. In 2021, it completely closed its networking service and focused on employment only. What caused it to scale back from a country with 140 million professionals who apparently had networking needs?
How Chitu was born
One year after LinkedIn officially entered China, LinkedIn’s China president proposed to build a completely separate professional networking app called Chitu (red horse) to attract Chinese young professionals.
Another networking app without strength
Chitu bore too many resemblances to LinkedIn, yet it didn’t have LinkedIn’s global network, which put it in the same position as its competitors.
LinkedIn was perceived as a job hunting site only
LinkedIn’s real rival was not other professional networking apps, but WeChat, China’s dominant social media tool, widely used for both business and personal life. LinkedIn was and still is considered as a job hunting site.