Amazon has announced plans for the closure of its Kindle e-book store in China next year, making it the latest US tech company to scale back its presence in the world's second largest economy.
The company has already stopped supplying Kindle e-readers to local retailers, and plans to close its digital bookstore in the country for good on 30 June 2023.
Chinese Kindle users will be able to download previously purchased e-books until 30 June 2024, and to read them indefinitely after that, Amazon said.
Amazon confirmed that it would still be providing warranty service and other assistance for Kindle e-readers, and would be accepting returns for "non-quality issues" for any device bought after January 1, 2022.
"Amazon's long-term development commitment in China will not change," Amazon said in a post on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, adding: "We have established an extensive business base in China and will continue to innovate and invest."
Amazon isn't the only American company to have scaled back its operations in China, with tech giants including Airbnb, LinkedIn and Yahoo all having limited services or exited from the country entirely due to increased competition and stringent censorship.
