Chinese Internet company NetEase recently announced the closure of its online forums by Oct. 19. NetEase said the reason for the closure is the company's move towards focusing on business development needs.

NetEase has been shutting down a handful of its media services over the past few months. Aside from its media arms, it is also closing some of its online communities and microblogging services.

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Amid this scenario, the Internet technology firm shared that it will offer what it called "memory packaging" service before the official closure of the outlet. This new service will allow users to pack and download all of their personal article data. NetEase said that once they pulled the plug, all user data will no longer be maintained.

Despite the closure, which was announced through a post on the company's forums, market analysts are positive that NetEase is developing something more exciting.

According to China Tech News, NetEase is working to upgrade its status in the interactive services market, and is currently focusing on online news outlets and follow-up posts.

NetEase forums were launched in 1999 and many experts considered it as one of the earliest of its form in China. These forums were a very popular social interaction tool in the country, several years before the unprecedented rise of social networking platforms. However, due to the increasing demands on the mobile market, NetEase, whose main market is the PC industry, is slowly losing traction. Aside from market instability, some experts also pointed China's strict policy and censorship when it comes to content being shared over the Internet as one of the possible reasons for its closure.

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