HONG KONG — An editor at a prominent Chinese newspaper said he was stepping down from his job because he could no longer withstand the pressures of strict control of the country’s media, according to a resignation note posted online.

The announcement follows increasing emphasis by Chinese leaders on control of the media. Last month, President Xi Jinping visited top-level state and Communist Party-run news outlets, where he spoke to staff members about the importance of following the directions of the party.

The resigning journalist, Yu Shaolei, has worked at Southern Metropolis Daily, a newspaper based in the southern city of Guangzhou, since 2000, and most recently he served as editor of the culture department. In a resignation notice posted to his account on Weibo, he wrote he could no longer “follow your surname.” The phrase appeared to be a reference to Mr. Xi’s directions that state and party media must “be surnamed party” — that is, answer first to the party.

Mr. Yu could not be immediately reached for comment. The message was deleted about two hours after it was posted Monday evening on Weibo, but cached copies exist on monitoring sites including Freeweibo and the University of Hong Kong journalism school’s Weiboscope.