Why your website doesn’t work in China: What are the reasons and how to solve them?

Table of contents:

In this guide, we will explore why many websites struggle to perform in China and what you can do to resolve these issues.

We’ll break down the core challenges posed by the Great Firewall of China and the specific compatibility issues foreign websites often face in this market. You’ll gain insights into the importance of localized hosting, web services and content, as well as practical steps to optimize your website’s weight and content delivery network (CDN) setup. Finally, we’ll help you decide on the best hosting strategy based on your company’s strategy for entering the Chinese market.

Many overseas brands encounter difficulties: ensuring their website performs efficiently in China. While most users expect a site to load in under five seconds, external-hosted websites often face issues of inaccessibility or painfully slow load times of 10-30 seconds. This can severely impact user experience and hurt your search engine rankings on platforms like Baidu.

The root reason: The Great Firewall of China (GFW)

The Great Firewall of China (GFW), developed by the government of the People’s Republic of China, is a comprehensive legal and technical system designed to regulate internet access within the country. It enforces specific regulations that restrict or block external websites from being accessible in China. Therefore, if you intend to operate your online business in this market, understanding what the firewall permits and prohibits is crucial.

The GFW creates two significant challenges for foreign websites attempting to enter the Chinese internet space:

1. Shared Hosting Blocking: Many websites use shared hosting and share the same IP address. If one website on that shared IP is blocked, all other websites using the same IP are also blocked, regardless of their compliance status.

2. Application and API Restrictions: Many foreign websites rely on applications and APIs that are blocked by the GFW. As a result, a website that loads quickly in the United States can be completely or partially non-functional in China due to these restrictions. This creates an incompatibility issue.

Many popular Western libraries, applications, plugins, and social media platforms are incompatible with the Chinese digital ecosystem. Here are some specific examples of commonly blocked resources:

In China, browsers cannot access resources from these blocked third-party domains, leading to timeouts that render your site unusable or cause excessively slow load times.

How to Get Your Website Running Smoothly in China

Step 1: Use Chinese localized technologies

If your website relies on a Western tech stack hosted on an overseas server, it may be time to consider switching to localized technologies. In cases where only a few APIs are blocked, you can disable or replace them with Chinese alternatives to keep your website running smoothly.

When developing a new website specifically for the Chinese market, you’ll have more control over its architecture. To avoid disruptions, steer clear of connections to third-party services or APIs hosted outside of China, as these are often blocked or significantly slowed down by the Great Firewall.

Fortunately, most Western services have local equivalents in China that your website can use. Managing a list of blocked resources and continuously finding China-friendly alternatives is essential for maintaining your site’s performance and accessibility.

Notes:

It's essential to ensure that both hosting solutions and compatible technology tools align with the Chinese digital landscape. Regardless of where your website is hosted, if it relies on blocked APIs, it will either partially load or experience significant slowdowns. For instance, if your website uses Google CAPTCHA, it won't load properly even if the hosting location is in China. The solution is to remove Google CAPTCHA and replace it with a local alternative from a Chinese provider, such as Baidu or Tencent.

Step 2: Change Your Hosting Location or optimize it with a CDN

The Great Firewall of China (GFW) significantly impacts the speed of websites hosted abroad due to high network latency. For example, if your website is hosted in Canada, the considerable distance from Chinese users leads to longer data transmission times. This results in slow loading speeds or even complete inaccessibility from within China. From a user’s perspective, waiting for a website to load is frustrating, leading them to abandon your site quickly. On the other hand, hosting your website closer to your users’ location greatly improves its speed.

1.  Host your website in China

The most effective way to boost your website’s loading speed in China is to host it locally. This reduces the time spent on domain name lookups and accessing external resources. Additionally, having your server based in China minimizes the risk of your site being flagged or blocked by the GFW, provided you comply with local regulations and avoid using restricted APIs or content (which we will discuss later).

To host your website within mainland China, obtaining an Internet Content Provider (ICP) License is mandatory. Issued by Chinese authorities, this license allows you to partner with a local Chinese web hosting provider, optimizing your site’s performance. Without an ICP license, you cannot register a domain or establish hosting in China. Moreover, securing an ICP license is a critical step for establishing a business presence in China. Once you acquire the license, it should be displayed in the footer of your website, as shown in the example below.

Alt text: ICP license display on website

2. Host your website from Hong Kong or nearby countries

Another effective solution is to host your website in Hong Kong or nearby countries. This option doesn’t require obtaining an ICP license, and you can leverage a Content Delivery Network (CDN) in these regions to reduce the physical distance data must travel compared to hosting in the US or Europe. CDNs cache your site’s content and store it on secondary servers based on the user’s geographical location. This way, visitors experience faster load times as the distance between them and the CDN server is significantly reduced. 

Hong Kong is generally a strategic choice due to its proximity to mainland China, offering lower latency compared to servers located further away. For corporate websites, the loading speed difference between hosting in Hong Kong and mainland China is often minimal, making this a viable option to improve your site’s speed without the complexities of obtaining an ICP license. Additionally, data centers in Hong Kong are well-regulated by the GFW. These centers are aware of the high volume of traffic coming from China and are cautious about hosting websites with content that could potentially be blocked by Chinese authorities.

3. Alternative Solution: Leverage CDNs with Strategic Points of Presence (PoPs)

If hosting your website directly in China or Hong Kong isn’t feasible, consider using a Content Delivery Network (CDN). By strategically positioning Points of Presence (PoPs) closer to your target audience, a CDN can help you accelerate website loading times and improve the user experience.

There are two common architectural strategies:

In both cases, it’s essential to remember that a CDN cannot fully replace your website’s primary server. To achieve long-term reliability and speed, hosting your site in China or Hong Kong is the most effective strategy.

4. What Is the Right Hosting Strategy for Your Company?

At first glance, hosting in China may seem time-consuming and costly, while hosting in Hong Kong appears faster and more cost-effective. While this might seem like a straightforward choice, the decision ultimately depends on your business plan and long-term strategy for the Chinese market.

For large corporations that consider China a key market, hosting your website in China through a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE) with your own ICP filing, data compliance measures, and local presence is the recommended route. Although this approach involves significant investment and time, the benefits of hosting locally can outweigh these challenges:

In essence, if your long-term goal is to capitalize on the market’s marketing and business opportunities, it is advisable to establish a Chinese entity and obtain ICP certification.

Conversely, if you lack the resources or time for these formalities, hosting in Hong Kong and replacing blocked APIs is a viable alternative. This approach works well if your primary aim is to make your website accessible and fast-loading in China without a significant investment.

Step 3: Optimize Your Website’s Weight

In addition to the main reasons and solutions for ensuring your site functions properly in China, it's important to consider another factor that significantly impacts loading speed: the weight of your website’s pages.

While videos, images, and interactive elements like JavaScript enhance engagement, excessive file sizes can slow down your site. To improve loading times, you need to optimize these elements without compromising their quality.

Here are some best practices to follow:

Conclusion: Ready to Launch Your Website in China? Let Us Help

Entering the Chinese market comes with unique digital challenges, but with the right strategies, your website can perform efficiently and reliably. From navigating the Great Firewall to securing an ICP license, we understand the complexities involved in establishing a successful online presence in China.

Our team is here to guide you through every step—whether it’s optimizing your hosting solution, localizing technologies, or ensuring compliance with local regulations. Contact us today to discuss how we can support your journey and help you deliver a seamless online experience for your Chinese audience.