(Yicai Global) June 5 -- LinkedIn's Chinese arm called Chitu will go offline in less than two  months as more people appear to vie for their next jobs via the US  firm's English-language counterpart and the Chinese rivals of MaiMai and  Zhaopin.Com.

"Chitu was an innovative  trial in the Chinese market by LinkedIn, but starting a new business is  never easy," the platform said in an open letter to users, announcing  the termination date of July 31. 

LinkedIn China spun off  Chitu in 2015 to target Chinese jobseekers that do not speak English but  the platform's ranking on app stores fell below that of the English  version. In the meantime, domestic career development rivals, such as  Maimai, took off to surpass LinkedIn China in terms of user bases. 

"Chitu failed to find its position in the local market," Beijing News reported, citing an employee who wanted to remain anonymous.

Microsoft acquired  LinkedIn for USD26.2 billion in 2016 and the overseas platform's revenue  has grown 27 percent in the quarter ended March 31, according to its  earnings report.

Editor: Emmi Laine