Access to LinkedIn disrupted in China-users

Access to LinkedIn, a social networking site aiming for a $175 million initial public offering, was disrupted in China on Thursday, according to several Internet users.

LinkedIn could be accessed as recently as Thursday morning, according to two regular users, one a Reuters employee and the other a business consultant, who declined to be identified.

It was unclear whether the disruption resulted from a technical fault or from deliberate blocking by the Chinese government, which already blocks other social networking sites, including Facebook.

LinkedIn Corp, which filed last month to raise up to $175 million in an IPO either on the Nasdaq or the New York stock exchange, was not immediately available for comment. It runs a networking site geared towards professionals