Amazon is the latest multinational firm to bow to state censorship to continue selling its products in China.

The electronic commerce company, founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, offers cloud based services within the secretive state's economy.

A controversial cybersecurity crackdown came into effect last month that tightened restrictions on freedom of speech online, imposing new rules on service providers.

Apple also sparked criticism in recent days after removing software from its app store that allowed internet users to skirt the country's controls.

Amazon is the latest multinational firm to bow to state censorship to continue selling its products in China. The electronic commerce company, founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, offers cloud based services within the secretive state's economy (stock image)

CLOUD COMPUTING IN COMMUNIST CHINA China requires foreign companies to partner with local businesses and forbids them from owning a controlling stake in the firm, according to reports in the New York Times. In a further tightening in restrictions, China has proposed banning multinationals from using their own brand name to promote their services. The new laws would also oblige them to cut off access and report any behaviour by customers that contravenes the country's laws. Although Amazon is a small player in the cloud computing market in China, it has been keen to grow its services. It has also been working on a Chinese language version of the Kindle, in conjunction with state-run telecom China Mobile. Advertisement

Amazon web services operates in partnership with Beijing Sinnet Technology to provide cloud computing in the country.

This includes website hosting, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and other services which can be used to circumvent the Great Firewall of China, the nickname given to the series of draconian censorship measures in force online in the communist state.

But Sinnet has warned its customers via a series of emails that anyone using the platform to do should cease immediately.

Clients who queried the communications were met with a recorded message, according to reports in the New York Times.

In it, a company spokesman called Ms Wang said: 'If users don't comply with the guidance, the offered services and their websites can be shut down.

'We the operators also check routinely if any of our users use these softwares or store illegal content.'

A spokesperson for Amazon told MailOnline: 'To comply with Chinese laws and regulations, AWS must operate its services through local partners.

'With Sinnet as our local partner for providing AWS services via the AWS Beijing Region, we are able to provide customers the same best-in-class technology services as those offered in other AWS Regions.

'Sinnet is responsible for ensuring that its customers in China comply with local laws and their notice was intended to remind customers of their obligations.'

Chinese internet users have for years sought to get around heavy internet restrictions by using foreign VPN services.

Apple has also parked criticism after removing software from from its app store that allows internet users to skirt China's' Great Firewall. China has hundreds of millions of smartphone users and is a vital market for Apple (stock image)

CHINESE CYBER CRACKDOWN While China is home to the world's largest number of internet users, a 2015 report by US think tank Freedom House found that the country had the most restrictive online use policies of 65 nations it studied, ranking below Iran and Syria. But China has maintained that its various forms of web censorship are necessary for protecting its national security. The national VPN crackdown comes after the passing of a controversial cybersecurity bill last November that tightened restrictions on online freedom of speech and imposed new rules on service providers. Since the regulation took effect this June, authorities have closed dozens of celebrity gossip blogs and issued new rules around online video content to eliminate programmes deemed offensive. Advertisement

Earlier this year Beijing decreed that all developers must obtain government licenses to offer VPNs, which allow users to bypass blocks on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

This lead to the Apple decision, which some argue is evidence of the firm bowing to China's tightening web censorship.

In January, Beijing passed laws seeking to ban all VPNs that are not approved by state regulators.

Approved VPNs must use state network infrastructure.

In a statement on Sunday, an Apple spokeswoman confirmed it will remove apps that don't comply with the law from its China App Store, including services based outside the country.

Around 60 apps are reported to have been removed.

'We have been required to remove some VPN apps in China that do not meet the new regulations,' Apple told AFP.

'These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business.'

Beijing has shut down dozens of China-based providers and it has been targeting overseas services as it bids to tighten its control over the internet, especially ahead of the Communist Party congress in August.

While personal VPN providers have been the subject of state-led attacks in the past, this marks the first time Apple has complied with requests to scrub overseas providers from its store.

VPN providers say the move is unnecessarily supportive of China's heightened censorship regime.