(Yicai Global) July 31 -- Apple Inc. [NYSE:AAPL] in response to the disappearance from shelves of the virtual private network (VPN) apps from its Chinese App Store, conceded it has removed non-compliant VPN Apps in China, but said the market outside China will remain unaffected, The Paper.cn reported citing overseas media.

ExpressVPN said on its official blog that all major VPN apps, including ExpressVPN, are off the shelves from China's Apple App Store.

Apple (China) issued the following statement on July 30, "We have received a demand to remove  non-compliant VPN Apps in China. The business for these Apps in other markets will not be affected." Early this year, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a notice requiring all developers providing VPN services to obtain business qualifications.

China is stepping up the clean-up of non-compliant VPNs, The Paper.cn reported. On July 25, in response to "some VPN providers in Chinese territory have ceased operations," MIIT spokesman and chief engineer Zhang Feng said that it mainly cleans up VPN suppliers who operate without a license or otherwise fail to comply. Enterprises and individuals who operate in conformity with Chinese law and regulations will remain unaffected.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Circular on Cleaning Up and Regulating the Internet Access Services Market in January, per media reports. Enterprises who need cross-border networking for office needs and other reasons can lease from eligible telecommunications operators who have international telecommunications access, Zhang said. The relevant provisions of the above circular will not disrupt their normal operations.