Yahoo pulls out of China amid increasingly 'challenging' environment

Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday said it plans to pull out of China, citing an increasingly challenging business and legal environment.

The company said in a statement that its services will no longer be accessible from mainland China as of Nov. 1.

"Yahoo remains committed to the rights of our users and a free and open internet. We thank our users for their support, the statement read.

Yahoo is the second large U.S. technology firm in recent weeks to reduce its operations in China. Last month, Microsoft's professional networking platform LinkedIn said it would shutter its Chinese site, replacing it with a jobs board instead.

Yahoo had previously downsized operations in China, and in 2015 shuttered its Beijing office. Its withdrawal from China is largely symbolic as at least some of Yahoo's services, its web portal, has been blocked in the country.