Aiming to improve business efficiency and reduce costs, the Finnish communications corporation Nokia will relocate its Asia Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Beijing.

Nokia Siemens Networks has announced plans to cut 17,000 employees around the world by the end of 2013, including about 4,000 mainland Chinese employees.

South Korean conglomerate company LG will reportedly close the mobile phone research and development department in LG Electronics China R&D Center in Beijing and cut half of the staff in the department.

Zhang Zhiqiang, president for Nokia Siemens Networks Greater China, has revealed to the Chinese local media that during the second quarter of 2011, the company's sales in China reached EUR402 million, a year-on-year increase of 13%.

Chinese Internet video website Ku6.com has announced that to simplify operations, control costs, and improve efficiency, the company has decided to restructure its sales department.

According to rumor spreads on the Chinese Internet, Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, a top interactive entertainment media and online game company in China, plans to cut over 400 employees.

Just days after announcing new initiatives in Hangzhou, Taiwan media reports that Microsoft will cut more than 300 jobs in the Chinese mainland and more than 10 jobs in Taiwan in the second round of its staff reduction.

An email, which China's Xinhua News Agency reports is rumored to be an internal email from Microsoft, is being spread online, stating that a new round of staff reductions at Microsoft will affect the company's employees in the Greater China region.

Home appliances giant Whirlpool has announced plans to adjust its manufacturing business in China and will close its washing machine plant, cutting 600 jobs.

Mobile phone giant Nokia has announced plans to cut 1700 jobs globally and the company's operation in China may also be affected.

The global financial crisis has reared its head at Motorola, and the company has cut about 1000 staff in China in the last couple of months.

Wu Yun, former CEO of the Chinese video website Ouou.com, has confirmed to Sohu.com that he has left Ouou.com and become CEO of Cyworld, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Korea-based SK Telecom.

The global financial crisis has hit Intel, as the company announced it will shift some assembly and test facilities from Shanghai to Chengdu, a move that will affect about 2,000 Intel employees in Shanghai.

While some companies around the world are responding to the financial crisis with job cuts, the newly issued 3G licenses in China have caused Ericsson to plan a hiring spree of several hundred new employees in China in 2009.

The global financial crisis has hit Chinese PC maker Lenovo (LNVGY) as it today announced cutting approximately 11% of its total global workforce, and the company expects to report a loss for the fiscal quarter that ended December 31, 2008.