Chinese Website Localization Services
QPSoftware provides Chinese website localization services for international brands that want to reach users in China. From Shanghai, local Chinese translators adapt your content and our developers make the website work in mainland China. We launched Erno Laszlo’s brand website for China and audited The Economist’s Chinese app, a project the publisher then extended with a monthly audit retainer.
Most companies build their website in the country of their headquarters. Once China becomes a target market, a translated copy is rarely enough: the content, the hosting and the services behind the website must also fit Chinese users. Done well, localization improves your brand image in China, builds trust with Chinese consumers, lifts your ranking on Chinese search engines and turns more visitors into customers. It is one of the services of our web design agency in China.
Translation or localization?
Translation puts your text into Chinese. Localization adapts the whole website to Chinese users:
- Script. Mainland China and Singapore use simplified Chinese, and China’s Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language sets standardized Chinese characters as the national written form. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan use traditional Chinese.
- Content. Local translators adapt your messages to what motivates Chinese buyers, instead of translating word for word.
- Structure. Some products, services or pages may need to change to attract Chinese customers, and the structure of the website may need to follow.
- Design. Chinese shoppers prefer long, fully descriptive product pages that show the product certifications.
Our guide to website localization in China details each step, and our review of Google Translate alternatives shows why machine translation is not enough for a website.
Hosting, ICP filing and blocked services
Where the website is hosted decides how fast it loads in China:
- Hosting in mainland China gives the best speed and opens Baidu pay-per-click ads. It requires an ICP filing, which a company submits with its Chinese business license. Under the MIIT filing rules, a non-commercial website cannot operate in China without a filing, and access providers may not connect a website that has not been filed.
- Hosting in Hong Kong needs no ICP filing and stays close to mainland users. It suits companies without a Chinese business license.
Then come the services the website calls. Widgets and APIs from YouTube, Google Maps, Facebook or Instagram are blocked by the Great Firewall, and Google Fonts and reCAPTCHA do not load reliably either. They must be removed or replaced with services that work in China, such as Youku, Baidu Maps or WeChat. Our ICP license and China hosting consulting helps with these choices, and our article on why a website does not work in China lists the usual causes.
Fonts, speed and Chinese search engines
Chinese fonts cover thousands of characters, so a web font can weigh heavily on loading time. Google Fonts do not load reliably in mainland China: fonts should be served from the website’s own server, or replaced by system fonts. Large images and scripts called from abroad slow pages down too.
Search changes as well. The Chinese version needs its own keywords, meta tags and sitemap for Chinese search engines such as Baidu, the work of our Baidu SEO services. For Erno Laszlo, our SEO experts wrote the meta tags and URLs with popular keywords in simplified Chinese, and submitted a sitemap to Baidu.
E-commerce localization: payments, logistics and integrations
An online store needs the same work, plus a few steps of its own:
- Payments. A company registered in China receives payments into its Chinese bank account. Without one, the store works as cross-border e-commerce with third-party payment. The usual methods are Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay: see our WeChat Pay and Alipay integration service.
- Logistics. Products must reach Chinese customers, so the store connects to shipping and logistics providers.
- Business systems. Our developers build the connections to your warehouse management (WMS), CRM, ERP and order management (OMS) systems, as part of our third-party integration (ERP, CRM, logistics).
For the leather goods brand LUCRIN, the localization covered a Magento store with Alipay, UnionPay and WeChat Pay, a WeChat store and WeChat login.
Localization projects we delivered
- Erno Laszlo: a brand website for China built on WordPress, connected to the brand’s Tmall store and to Chinese social networks, without plugins or APIs blocked in China.
- The Economist: a one-week audit of the Chinese app, covering its adaptation to local networks, its loading speed and the features it needed for the Chinese ecosystem, such as WeChat.
- Smiths Interconnect: a corporate website for China with website localization, product catalog translation and ICP registration.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I localize my website for Chinese customers?
Start with the language: simplified Chinese for mainland China, written by local translators rather than by machine translation. Then adapt the content and the product pages, choose hosting in mainland China with an ICP filing or in Hong Kong without one, and replace services blocked in China, such as Google Maps or YouTube. For an online store, add Chinese payment methods like Alipay and WeChat Pay.
Should my Chinese website use simplified or traditional characters?
It depends on your audience. Use simplified Chinese for mainland China, where the law sets standardized characters as the national written form, and for Singapore. Use traditional Chinese for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. If you target both audiences, plan two language versions written by translators from each region, rather than converting one script into the other automatically.
Do I need to host my website in China?
No, but it helps speed. A website hosted in mainland China loads fastest for local users and needs an ICP filing, which a company obtains with its Chinese business license. A website hosted in Hong Kong needs no filing and remains a practical option for foreign companies without a Chinese entity. In both cases, services blocked in China must be removed.
How long does website localization take?
It depends on the amount of content, the number of pages and languages, and the changes needed beyond translation, such as new hosting, payment methods or integrations. Moving the hosting to mainland China adds the ICP filing, which usually takes two to four weeks once the documents are complete. Content that you review quickly shortens the project.
WHY QPSOFTWARE?
Founded in 2009, QPSoftware works from Shanghai, with an international team of more than 20 people and more than 200 projects delivered. We help foreign brands make their voice heard in China, with full support and technical advice, for small and large organizations.
We also localize native iOS and Android apps, adapting their design, features and technical choices to Chinese users, with our mobile app development agency in China.
