LinkedIn in China After InCareer: How to Use International LinkedIn (2026)
You want to use LinkedIn to find overseas buyers. You search "LinkedIn" in the iPhone App Store, scroll through several pages, and the blue icon never shows up. You try "领英职场" instead and get nothing there either.
Your phone isn't the problem. InCareer (领英职场) stopped operating on August 9, 2023, and the only LinkedIn left is the international version (linkedin.com). Many guides still compare "InCareer vs international LinkedIn", but that question is out of date.
This article follows the LinkedIn Help Center and is written for people in foreign trade. It answers four questions: whether your old account still exists, how to get international LinkedIn on an iPhone, how to register and sign in, and why accounts get restricted and how to prevent it.
InCareer vs international LinkedIn: only one is left
Get the timeline straight first and the rest is easy to work out:
| When | What happened | Status now |
|---|---|---|
| Before 2021 | LinkedIn China (cn.linkedin.com) shared one account system with the international site and had a feed, posts and other social features | Social features closed |
| October 2021 | LinkedIn announced it would close the localized social site and replace it with a standalone jobs-only app | Over |
| December 2021 to August 2023 | InCareer (领英职场) ran with job features only, no feed | Shut down 2023-08-09, account data deleted |
| Now | Only international LinkedIn (linkedin.com and the LinkedIn app) | Operating normally |
According to a Securities Times report (in Chinese), after the shutdown LinkedIn refocused its China business on helping Chinese companies with overseas hiring, brand marketing and skills training. In other words, LinkedIn no longer offers a separate product for individual users in mainland China. If you want to use LinkedIn for foreign-trade prospecting, the international version is the only option.
Is your old account still there? 3 cases
Two sentences in the official shutdown notice matter most: "After August 9, we will delete all InCareer account data", and "InCareer being discontinued will not impact other LinkedIn accounts and services". Find the row that matches how you originally signed up:
| Your situation | What happened to the account | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Registered on LinkedIn China or linkedin.com before 2021 | It's a LinkedIn account, not affected by the shutdown | Sign in to the international site with your original email; if you forgot the password, reset it |
| Only registered the InCareer app from late 2021 onward | Account and data were deleted after 2023-08-09 | Register again on the international site with an email address |
| Your company posted jobs or bought hiring services on InCareer | Existing enterprise customers keep access to linkedin.com and enterprise tools | New team members need an international LinkedIn account, see the enterprise FAQ |
If you aren't sure which case you're in, the quickest test is to go to linkedin.com and click "Forgot password" with the email you normally use. If a reset email arrives, the account still exists. If LinkedIn says it can't find the account, register as a new user.
A claim circulates on Chinese sites that "accounts that never signed in to the international site before the shutdown were wiped". There is no basis for this on LinkedIn's official pages. LinkedIn only says it deleted InCareer data.
How to download international LinkedIn on iPhone
The LinkedIn app is not in the China App Store. On October 27, 2026 we queried Apple's app lookup API: LinkedIn (official name LinkedIn: Community & Network) returned 0 results in the China region. In the US region it is listed normally, at version 9.1.584, updated the day before.
So iPhone users have two options:
- Use the website: open linkedin.com in Safari and sign in. Search, connecting and messaging all work, which is enough for occasional use
- Switch to the US App Store and download the app: if you reply to clients every day, the app's notifications are more timely
If you don't have a US Apple ID yet, start with this guide to creating a US Apple ID, no credit card needed. If you already have one but worry that switching will affect your iCloud data, see how to switch to the US App Store without losing iCloud data: switch only "Media & Purchases" and keep iCloud on your China account.
After the download finishes, you can switch back to your China account and the installed LinkedIn app keeps working. When you update the app later, the App Store will ask for your US account password.
How to register and sign in to international LinkedIn
Register: use an email you'll keep for years
LinkedIn sends password resets and new-device sign-in alerts by email, so register with the address you'll still be using in a few years. A company email works, and so does a personal one you check every day.
Fill in your profile truthfully: real name, real company and real job title. This isn't only about manners. LinkedIn's official restriction rules state that profiles that don't reflect your true identity can be restricted, and lifting a restriction requires verifying your identity with an ID document. If the names don't match, you won't pass.
Phone number: don't use an SMS-receiving service
Many guides suggest registering with a virtual overseas number from an online SMS-receiving site. We don't recommend it, for practical reasons:
- Other people can receive messages on that number too, so if someone uses it to recover your account later, you can't stop them
- Once the number expires, you can't receive verification codes either
- If the account is ever restricted, the official recovery process asks you to prove "this is me", and a number that isn't yours won't help
If registration doesn't ask for a phone number, you can skip it and finish signing up with email.
Sign in: turn on two-step verification first
According to LinkedIn's help page, with two-step verification on, signing in from a device LinkedIn doesn't recognize asks for your password first and then a PIN. The PIN can come by text message or from an authenticator app.
For users in mainland China, an authenticator app is more reliable than SMS: the PIN is generated on your phone and doesn't depend on a text message getting through. Turn it on under "Settings → Sign in & security → Two-step verification", choose authenticator app, and scan the code with Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator.
LinkedIn account restricted: official reasons and community experience
Many people in foreign trade hit the same moment in their first few weeks. After a few days of prospecting, LinkedIn asks you at sign-in to upload an ID and take a selfie, and the account is temporarily unusable. That's an account restriction.
The first 5 rows below come from the LinkedIn Help Center page on restrictions. Row 6 comes from community experience:
| # | Reason | Typical foreign-trade behavior | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Third-party automation tools | Using extensions to mass-add connections, auto-send outreach messages, or scrape client profiles | Official |
| 2 | Profile doesn't reflect your real identity | Registering with an English alias, a made-up job title or company | Official |
| 3 | Signs the account was compromised | Several people sharing one account, signed in on different computers at once | Official |
| 4 | Violating content | Spamming ads in posts or comments | Official |
| 5 | Violating profile content | Putting contact details and ads in your headline or profile photo | Official |
| 6 | Frequently changing login environment | Switching between office network, mobile data and servers in different countries within one day | Community |
People in foreign trade most often trip over rows 1 and 3. Automation extensions are efficient, but LinkedIn explicitly prohibits them, and they can lead to temporary or permanent restriction. When several sales reps share one LinkedIn account, it looks to LinkedIn as if someone else has taken the account over.
How to recover a restricted account
Per the official process, sign in and follow the on-screen prompts to verify your identity:
- If you sign in on a computer, scan the QR code on the page with your phone and continue in the LinkedIn app
- Select the country that issued your ID and accept the terms of Persona, the third-party verification provider
- Take a selfie when prompted
- Choose your ID type and photograph it; LinkedIn accepts a valid government-issued ID, driver's license or passport
- Tap "Yes, share" to submit
The official verification page notes that accepted documents vary by country. Most people in foreign trade have a passport, so prepare that first to avoid being rejected for the wrong document type.
While you wait, don't register a new account and start over. If the new account behaves the same way as the old one, it will be restricted soon too.
Row 6: why your login environment deserves a separate check
To be clear: LinkedIn's official restriction page says nothing about IP addresses, location or VPNs. The idea that frequent IP jumps trigger verification comes from automation-tool vendors' help docs and from people in foreign trade, not from an official rule.
The logic is similar to WhatsApp business accounts getting banned. A new account that signs in from Japan in the morning, the US in the afternoon and Singapore at night, while adding lots of strangers in a short time, looks more like a stolen account to a risk system. A single network change is no big deal. The risk becomes noticeable when it stacks with the rows above.
To stabilize your login environment, do 3 things:
- Pick a server in the same region as your main clients: Europe for European clients, the US for American ones
- Use that one server for registration and daily sign-ins, and keep your phone and work computer on the same server where you can
- Check your exit IP: after connecting, open any IP lookup site and note the result, then check again a few hours later; if the two differ, your IP is changing
Many tools switch routes automatically for speed, so your exit IP keeps changing without you knowing. With SealVPN, once you select a server your exit IP stays the same and doesn't drift while you use it. To be clear, the IP on a given server is shared by multiple users and is not a dedicated IP. If an account has already been asked to verify, switch to a different server and stay on that new one long term.
FAQ
Can I still use LinkedIn's China version?
No. InCareer stopped operating on August 9, 2023, and its account data was deleted. The only LinkedIn available to individual users in mainland China now is the international version.
Do I need a VPN for international LinkedIn in China?
Reports disagree. Third-party monitoring in October 2026 showed the linkedin.com main domain was not blocked, but feed and jobs pages were intermittent, while several 2026 guides say it won't load on Chinese networks (summarized at What Works in China). The most direct check is to try it on your own network. And remember that on iPhone, the app needs a US account to download.
Can an InCareer account be moved to international LinkedIn?
No. LinkedIn offered a data download before the shutdown, and the data has since been deleted. If you only ever used InCareer, you need to register again on the international site and re-add your connections and profile.
Is international LinkedIn free?
Registration and the basic features are free, including building a profile, connecting and messaging people you're already connected with. Sending InMail to people you aren't connected with and seeing more search results require a paid membership.
What matters most when using LinkedIn for prospecting?
Don't use automation extensions, keep your profile real and complete, and keep your login environment fixed. Those three points cover the most common restriction causes in foreign trade.
Summary
Since InCareer closed, the path to finding overseas clients on LinkedIn is actually clear:
- InCareer is gone, only the international version is left: LinkedIn accounts from before 2021 still work; if you only used InCareer, register again
- The China App Store doesn't list LinkedIn on iPhone: use the website, or switch to the US App Store to download the app
- Register with a long-term email and a real profile, skip SMS-receiving numbers, and turn on two-step verification with an authenticator app
- Avoid the most common restriction causes: no automation extensions, no shared accounts, and a login environment fixed on one server near your clients
It's best to have both LinkedIn and WhatsApp ready, so if a client can't reach you on one channel, there's another. To install WhatsApp, see the guide to downloading WhatsApp Business on iPhone.
If you need a connection where your IP doesn't drift once you pick a server, you can download SealVPN for iPhone or create a SealVPN account and connect in one tap.
Based on the LinkedIn Help Center as of October 2026 and our own App Store check. LinkedIn's verification rules and app availability may change, so go by what you see on the actual page.
References:
- LinkedIn Help Center: InCareer Discontinuation: Important Information
- LinkedIn Help Center: InCareer Discontinuation: Recruiter and Jobs FAQs
- LinkedIn Help Center: Account restrictions
- LinkedIn Help Center: Verify your identity to recover account access
- LinkedIn Help Center: Two-step verification overview
- Securities Times: InCareer officially shuts down (2023-08-10, in Chinese)
