Apple has removed hundreds of apps from its download store in China this year at the government’s request, the iPhone maker said on Tuesday, as it emerged that Skype was the latest US communications service to be caught up in Beijing’s internet crackdown.

Skype’s disappearance suggests that after the Chinese government’s recent attempt to bolster the “Great Firewall” against “virtual private network” apps that allowed users to evade censorship, it is now stepping up its efforts against foreign internet-telephony services.

Over recent weeks Skype, the Microsoft-owned messaging app, has been unavailable from several Chinese app stores, including those operated by Apple and by Android handset makers including Xiaomi. Existing Skype users in China so far are still able to make calls on the service.