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The company announced that from July 2023, Kindle users in that country will no longer be able to buy digital books. Existing users will be able to "download" previously made purchases until June 2024. The Kindle maker did not give a reason for the pullback in its announcement, but it said its existing businesses in China, such as logistics, ads, and devices, will not be affected.
Amazon will continue to innovate and invest
“Amazon’s long-term development commitment in China will not change,” Amazon said in the Weibo post. “We have established an extensive business base in China and will continue to innovate and invest”.
Last December, a Reuters investigation detailed Amazon’s efforts to curry favor in China, including that it collaborated with the country’s propaganda arm to launch a “China Books” portal, partly in an effort to expand its Kindle business in China.
Amazon also shuttered its e-commerce marketplace in China in 2019 and has shifted its focus to cross-border selling to Chinese consumers. Amazon began selling its Kindle e-readers in China in 2013, and it quickly became an important market for that business, a former Amazon executive that oversaw the country told Chinese state media in 2017.
The move has been part of a series of Western corporate withdrawals in recent months. Last week, Airbnb announced that it would take down all its accommodation offers in China and concentrate on passengers leaving it. As of this summer, it will no longer be possible to book accommodation in China via Airbnb.
Also, back in October last year, LinkedIn announced that it was closing the Chinese version of its platform, citing "numerous obstacles and significantly aggravating circumstances compared to before." It will be replaced by a strictly localized InJobs service that will function as a traditional business portal.