Video Marketing in China: A B2B Guide to the Platforms That Replace YouTube

Video marketing in China runs on Chinese platforms, because YouTube is blocked in mainland China. Brands reach buyers with short videos and live commerce on Douyin and Kuaishou, social sharing on WeChat Channels, long-form content on Bilibili, and video ads on streaming sites such as Tencent Video, iQIYI and Youku. Each needs local accounts and local content.

Key takeaways

• YouTube is blocked in mainland China, so a video strategy for Chinese buyers is built on Chinese platforms.
• 1.093 billion people in China watched online video in December 2025, 97.1% of internet users, and 1.074 billion watched short videos (CNNIC).
• Douyin and WeChat Channels give the widest reach, Bilibili suits tutorials and explainers, and Kuaishou is strong outside the largest cities.
• Brand accounts, ads and videos go through platform verification and content review, usually with a Chinese entity or a local partner.
• A video campaign works best when it leads somewhere: a WeChat Official Account, a Mini Program or an online store.

Unlike Western markets, where YouTube dominates, China’s video ecosystem is split across several platforms, each with its own audience, ad formats and content culture. Choosing the wrong platform, or producing content that does not resonate with local audiences, is a costly mistake.

This guide covers what a brand or marketing team needs to know to launch video marketing campaigns in China: which platforms to prioritize, how to set up accounts, how to work with local creators and what to prepare before launch. Video is only the first step, though: viewers still need a place to buy, such as a Mini Program or a WeChat store, the tools our WeChat agency in Shanghai designs and develops.

Is YouTube Banned in China?

Yes. YouTube is blocked in mainland China. The UK government’s travel advice for China lists Google, Facebook, YouTube and X among the services that are permanently blocked, and notes that online services such as VPNs need a license from the Chinese government.

For marketers, YouTube in China is not a channel. Most Chinese customers will never see your YouTube videos or your YouTube ads. A campaign built for YouTube has to be adapted and republished on Chinese platforms, with Chinese subtitles or voice-over and a format that fits each feed.

Chinese YouTube Alternatives: The Main Video Platforms

There is no single Chinese YouTube. What YouTube does in one app is split across several Chinese video platforms: short videos on Douyin and Kuaishou, tutorials and creator videos on Bilibili, and series and films on Chinese video websites such as Tencent Video, iQIYI and Youku.

Platform	Format	Closest YouTube use	How brands use it
Douyin	Short vertical videos, live commerce	Shorts and creator clips	Reach, in-feed ads, live selling
Kuaishou	Short videos, live streaming	Shorts and live streams	Reach beyond the largest cities
Bilibili	Long and mid-length videos, on-screen comments	Tutorials, reviews, explainers	Sponsored videos, creator series
WeChat Channels	Short videos inside WeChat	Videos shared with contacts	Content linked to WeChat accounts
Tencent Video	Series, films, variety shows	Long-form entertainment	Video ads
iQIYI	Drama series	Long-form entertainment	Video ads
Youku	Series, long-form videos	Long-form brand content	Brand channel, pre-roll ads
Xigua Video	Longer creator videos, from ByteDance	Creator channels	Creator partnerships

For long-form creator content, such as tutorials, product reviews and explainers, Bilibili is the closest equivalent to YouTube. For short videos, Douyin and Kuaishou play the role of YouTube Shorts. For films and series, Tencent Video, iQIYI and Youku come closest to YouTube’s long-form entertainment. The rest of this guide focuses on the five platforms that matter most for brand marketing.

China’s Video Market: Key Numbers for Marketers

The scale of video consumption in China is significant. China had 1.125 billion internet users in December 2025, and 1.093 billion of them watched online video, 97.1% of the total, according to the 57th Statistical Report on China’s Internet Development of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). Short videos reached 1.074 billion users, long-form video platforms 730 million, and micro-dramas 664 million.

For marketers, these numbers mean very large reach. The Chinese video market also differs from Western markets in several important ways: most viewing happens on mobile phones, algorithms drive discovery far more than subscriptions, and content that feels authentic and local often outperforms polished international productions.

The 5 Key Platforms for Brand Video Marketing in China

China has over a dozen video platforms, but five matter most for brand marketing. Each serves a different role in the brand-building funnel.

Douyin: Mass Reach and Performance Marketing

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, is the leading short-video platform in China, run by ByteDance. Its daily active users in China passed 680 million in 2024, which gives brands reach on a national scale.

From a marketing standpoint, Douyin’s strength lies in its performance advertising. Brands can run in-feed ads, splash ads shown when the app opens, and branded challenges that encourage user-generated content. Douyin also integrates e-commerce, with Douyin Shop and live-streaming sales, so users can buy products without leaving the app.

For most brands entering China, Douyin is the natural first platform to consider. It requires consistent content production: the algorithm rewards accounts that post regularly, and brand accounts that go quiet quickly lose momentum.

WeChat Channels: Video Inside Tencent’s Social Ecosystem

WeChat Channels (视频号), called Video Accounts in Tencent’s financial reports, is the short-video feed built into WeChat. It launched in 2020 and keeps growing: Tencent reported that total time spent on Video Accounts grew more than 20% year on year in the second quarter of 2026, in an app with 1.439 billion monthly active users across Weixin and WeChat (Tencent results for the second quarter of 2026).

What makes WeChat Channels particularly useful for brands is its integration with the rest of the WeChat ecosystem: Official Accounts, Mini Programs, and the WeChat social graph. A video liked by a contact can appear in a user’s Channels feed, giving branded content a distribution advantage through trusted social connections.

For brands that already have a WeChat Official Account, Channels is a natural extension of their content strategy and a direct way to turn viewers into Mini Program users or e-commerce customers.

Bilibili: Long-Form Video for Young Audiences

Bilibili is one of China’s main platforms for long-form video, and a video community built for China’s younger generations. Its audience is highly engaged, and comments scroll across the screen while a video plays, which turns watching into a shared experience.

Unlike Douyin’s short-form, algorithm-driven model, Bilibili rewards quality content. Brands that invest in well-produced explainer videos, mini-documentaries, or sponsored educational series can build genuine communities on the platform. Bilibili’s audience actively seeks out branded content if it is informative or entertaining rather than purely promotional.

Bilibili is particularly well suited for brands in the technology, automotive, consumer electronics, and lifestyle categories.

Kuaishou: Reaching Lower-Tier Cities

Kuaishou has built a loyal user base in China’s third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas. It passed 600 million monthly active users in 2024, an important audience for fast-moving consumer goods, agriculture, and lifestyle brands.

Kuaishou’s content culture is more raw and authentic than Douyin’s polished aesthetic. Users value genuine, personality-driven content, and live-streaming sales rely on the trust between streamers and their followers. For brands willing to adapt their tone, Kuaishou offers access to a large and relatively underserved consumer segment.

Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book): Lifestyle Brands and Product Discovery

Xiaohongshu, known internationally as Little Red Book or RedNote, combines social media, user reviews, and e-commerce. It is one of the most popular apps among young, middle-class Chinese in first- and second-tier cities, who use it to look for product advice and tutorials before they buy.

Xiaohongshu is particularly powerful for lifestyle, beauty, food, travel, and fashion brands. Its mix of images, short videos, and detailed reviews makes KOC (Key Opinion Consumer) marketing highly effective: authentic user recommendations drive conversion far more directly than traditional advertising. Our guide to Little Red Book marketing explains how brands advertise, work with creators and sell on the platform.

Which Platform Is Right for Your Brand?

Not every brand needs to be active on all five platforms. The right combination depends on your target audience, budget, and marketing goals. The table below provides a starting reference:

Platform	Best for	Core audience	Entry cost
Douyin	Mass reach, e-commerce	Very broad, national	High
WeChat Channels	Community, conversion	WeChat users	Medium
Bilibili	Brand building, tech and lifestyle	Young, highly engaged viewers	Medium
Kuaishou	FMCG, lower-tier cities	Third- and fourth-tier cities, rural areas	Medium-Low
Xiaohongshu	Beauty, lifestyle, discovery	Young, urban, middle-class users	Low-Medium

For brands entering China for the first time, starting with Douyin and WeChat Channels covers the widest audience with the most mature advertising infrastructure.

Building a China Video Marketing Strategy

A successful China video marketing strategy typically involves three layers: paid advertising, owned content, and earned media through KOL or KOC partnerships.

KOL and KOC Partnerships

Working with local influencers is often the fastest way to build credibility and reach. KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) are influencers with large followings; KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers) are everyday users and micro-influencers whose recommendations are highly trusted and cost less per engagement.

Many brands combine a few mid-tier KOLs with a larger number of KOCs rather than relying on one celebrity. The key is selecting creators whose audience matches your target customer profile, and checking their real engagement rather than their follower count. Our article on KOL marketing in China details the KOL tiers, the ways to pay them and how to choose them.

Paid Video Advertising

All major Chinese video platforms offer advertising tools, though accessing them as a foreign brand typically requires a local business registration or an authorized agency partner. On Douyin, ads are bought through Ocean Engine (巨量引擎), ByteDance’s marketing platform, which also covers Toutiao and Xigua Video. Common ad formats include in-feed video ads on Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili; splash ads on Douyin; brand takeover campaigns; and pre-roll ads on long-form platforms such as Bilibili and Youku.

Owned Brand Accounts

Building an owned presence on key platforms provides a long-term marketing asset. Content published on your brand account can be boosted with paid distribution, and followers become a remarketing audience for future campaigns. Our team can help you set up and manage brand accounts across Douyin, WeChat, and Bilibili as part of a China digital marketing strategy.

Video Content That Works in China

Content preferences in China differ from Western markets in several important ways that brands should consider before production begins.

Mobile-first, vertical format: 99.6% of Chinese internet users go online with a mobile phone, according to the same CNNIC report. Short-form content should be produced in vertical (9:16) format, unless it targets long-form viewers on Bilibili or on streaming platforms.

Fast opening, strong hook: Chinese viewers are used to dense, fast-moving feeds. Content needs to capture attention within the first two seconds, or users will scroll past without engaging.

Authenticity over polish: Especially on Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu, content that looks too much like an ad tends to underperform. Tutorials, behind-the-scenes footage, and user review formats often outperform traditional broadcast-style ads.

Localization, not just translation: Humor, cultural references, and consumer norms differ significantly across Chinese regions and demographics. Dubbing or subtitling Western content rarely achieves strong engagement. Effective campaigns are built around local consumer insights.

Live commerce integration: Live streaming with direct purchasing is central to video commerce in China, where CNNIC counted more than 813 million live-streaming users in December 2025. Brands that combine product demonstrations with real-time purchase options can turn viewers into buyers during the stream.

What You Need Before You Launch

Before running video campaigns in China, several regulatory and technical requirements need to be addressed.

Chinese business registration or local partner: Advertising accounts on Chinese platforms are usually opened by a company registered in China. Foreign companies without one typically work through an authorized agency that runs the accounts on their behalf. If your videos send viewers to a website hosted in mainland China, that website also needs an ICP filing or license.

Content review: Video content for advertising must pass a platform review process before running. Content that references sensitive political topics, gambling, or violates local regulations will be rejected. Allow time in your production schedule for review and potential revision rounds.

Brand account verification: Official brand accounts on Douyin and WeChat require business registration documents, such as a business license or proof of trademark ownership. The verification takes time: plan for it before your launch date.

Payment infrastructure: Chinese advertising platforms operate in RMB and require a local bank account or agency payment arrangement. This is an area where working with a local partner simplifies operations considerably.

If you are planning your first video campaign in China, our China website compliance consulting team can check that the website your campaign links to loads in China, with the right hosting and ICP filing.

What Should You Do Next?

Video marketing in China rewards brands that invest in platform-specific strategies, genuine local partnerships, and consistent content production. The opportunity is real: more than a billion online video users, daily habits built around video, and advertising tools on every major platform.

Start with clarity about your audience, your platforms, and your content format, then decide where viewers will go after the video. For most foreign brands, that place is WeChat: a Mini Program or a WeChat store turns a Channels viewer into a customer, and our WeChat agency designs and builds both. From there, our team at QPSoftware can help you plan, launch, and optimize your China video marketing campaigns.

Contact us to discuss your project and get a free consultation on your China video strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions