LinkedIn China president resigns
Derek Shen, who launched the professional networking site in China, quits in what could be a setback to the company’s mainland expansion plans
LinkedIn has lost its captain in China, its fastest growing market, in a move that could set back the company’s push in the country.
Derek Shen, the president of LinkedIn China, announced his resignation on Friday, about three and a half years after he helped the world’s largest professional networking site launch its China operation.
Shen, an experienced entrepreneur, said in a statement released by the company that “it is time for a new start” now that he has achieved the goal of rapidly expanding LinkedIn’s business in China.
LinkedIn is one of the very few western social networking sites that has managed to build a solid operation in the strictly controlled Chinese internet arena.
“It is difficult for multinational internet companies to grow in China and it is even harder to create a new business model in a well-established multinational firm. But now we can be proud to say that we have fulfilled our mission,” he said in the statement.
He said the company has entered a new phase of stable development and therefore it is time for him to make a new start in his career. He plans to work as the chairman of Danke Gongyu, a Beijing-based apartment rental start-up he invests in, while looking for new opportunities in China’s internet industry.
It’s very difficult for western internet firms to survive in China