Delivering a fast and fully functional website in China encompasses both compatibility and infrastructure. Global websites often underperform in China due to a combination of third-party resource incompatibility and regional infrastructure differences.

This guide equips developers with actionable strategies to optimize websites specifically for the Chinese internet landscape, balancing performance, compliance, and compatibility without necessarily needing ICP licenses or onshore hosting.

Why most websites underperform in China

Websites optimized for global audiences frequently rely on third-party resources and globally distributed CDNs. In China, websites need a different layer of optimization.

Global websites frequently encounter:

High latency due to long geographic distances and restricted international bandwidth.

Blocked or slow-performing resources from platforms like Google Fonts, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and hundreds of others.

Underperforming CDN delivery when CDNs lack a mainland China presence or when routing peering is poor.

Over-reliance on multiple external assets leading to slow DNS resolution and fragmented performance.

Should we host our website in China to improve speed?

Hosting your site onshore in China isn’t a decision to take lightly. While it can deliver infrastructure benefits, it also introduces operational complexities like managing a separate hosting environment and maintaining two versions of your website (China vs global). It also doesn’t guarantee speed or functionality. Issues including third-party resource incompatibility and dynamic content bottlenecks mean even onshore-hosted sites perform poorly. A full China strategy requires optimization on top of servers and infrastructure.

Technical strategies for China optimization

1. Audit your website from within China

Recommended tools include:

Chinafy Visual Speed Test for real user performance snapshots.

WebPageTest.org using China-based nodes for network-layer insights.

Manual VPN-based testing from cities like Beijing, Shanghai, or Chengdu.

Key web performance metrics to focus on:

Time to First Byte (TTFB)

Full page load times

Failed or blocked requests

External script behavior and errors

2. Replace or localize incompatible resources

Many common resources fail to load consistently in China, and this could be a primary reason for latency.

An important note here if you’re looking to optimize your existing global website for China is that you probably don’t want to replace resources with China-specific ones, as this will impact user experience for the rest of the world.

And unfortunately, there are also hundreds, if not thousands, of resources that have incompatibility issues in China and the way they work differs and evolves over time so there is no one-off list or means to edit these resources.

Your options are:

Build a new site specifically for a China audience and implement optimization best practices. Note that if you’re hosting in China, additional prerequisites include a Chinese business entity and ICP license, which we’ll cover below.

Use Chinafy with your existing website – we create a version of your website optimized for China visitors without impacting your global site or costing you the hassle of learning how to optimize for China.

Here are some examples of how developers can address some common incompatibilities if they’re building a website specifically for a China audience:

Self-host fonts instead of using Google Fonts.

Swap YouTube or Vimeo embeds for China-friendly platforms like Tencent Video, Youku, or Bilibili.

Use self-hosted analytics tools like Matomo as a replacement for Google Analytics.

Remove or replace western social plugins like Facebook or X which often fail to render.

3. Upgrade your CDN strategy intentionally

Not all CDNs perform equally in China. Developers optimizing for China should:

Use Multi-CDN setups that include providers with mainland China POPs like Alibaba Cloud or Tencent Cloud.

Apply Geo-DNS or routing logic if you want China traffic to be served from infrastructure optimized for the region.

Consider Chinafy to combine multi-CDN delivery with code-level optimizations, especially for dynamic or interactive content that CDNs alone cannot handle effectively.

4. Optimize DNS resolution

DNS lookup time is a significant but often overlooked factor for China web performance.

To minimize DNS-related delays:

Use Geo-DNS to direct China visitors to China-optimized infrastructure.

Limit the number of third-party requests requiring external DNS lookups.

Consider China-based DNS providers such as Alibaba Cloud DNS to reduce lookup times for users within China.

5. Manage dynamic and interactive content

Static assets benefit from caching whereas dynamic content such as booking engines, search, and personalized user experiences require a different strategy.

To optimize dynamic content for China, developers can implement:

Server-Side Rendering (SSR) or Edge-Side Rendering (ESR) to pre-render content closer to users.

Dynamic caching rules that balance freshness with performance needs.

Partial hydration techniques to preserve interactivity without significantly degrading load times.

Leveraging platforms like Chinafy to offload complex third party content optimization, whether you’re hosting onshore in China or offshore.

Advanced techniques for developers

Additional techniques that may help to improve site performance for China-based users:

Inline critical CSS selectively to speed up the initial render.

Bundle and code-split JavaScript thoughtfully to avoid blocking rendering or loading non-essential code upfront.

Lazy load images and iframes to prioritize critical content and defer non-critical assets.

Preload essential resources like fonts, hero images, or above-the-fold elements to prioritize their delivery.

Enable HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 protocols where supported, for multiplexed requests and faster delivery.

Tools & platforms for China website performance optimization

Some of the most widely used tools and platforms developers rely on when optimizing for China include:

Chinafy – for full-stack optimization across infrastructure and application layers, inclusive of multi-CDN from some named CDN partners such as some below

Alibaba Cloud CDN: Both global and China-specific – regional CDN with China POPs purchased separately.

Tencent Cloud CDN – regional CDN with China POPs purchased separately.

Cloudflare or Akamai – global CDNs with varying performance in China depending on architecture.

Matomo – self-hosted analytics compatible with China environments.

ICP license considerations for developers

Whether an ICP license is required depends on your hosting and infrastructure strategy:

Hosting within mainland China typically requires an ICP license, which involves a Chinese business entity and administrative processes.

Offshore hosting paired with offshore CDN delivery does not require an ICP license.

Using Chinafy’s hybrid optimization approach allows offshore sites to deliver fast, fully functional experiences in China without necessarily requiring an additional ICP license or re-hosting. Onshore options are also available.

Testing, monitoring & iteration

Continuous monitoring is needed for China web performance as conditions evolve.

Best practices for monitoring include:

Using Chinafy for real-time insights into China-specific performance.

Running WebPageTest (China nodes) for periodic benchmarking.

Leveraging Catchpoint for synthetic monitoring from within China.

Tracking application logs and frontend error reporting for issues like failed resource loads or JavaScript errors.

Monitor for:

Changes in latency and load times

Resource availability issues

User engagement or conversion drops specifically from China-based traffic

Dynamic content rendering issues

Visual loading experience (e.g. as seen via performance film strip)

China web optimization with Chinafy

If you’re looking to outsource your China web performance to a trusted solution: Chinafy solves performance and compatibility challenges whether you’re hosting onshore or offshore.

Here’s how Chinafy works:

Generates a version of your website for China visitors without affecting your current site.

Identifies and remediates blocked or slow resources, such as replacing Google Maps with Baidu Maps where needed.

Adds a China-friendly CDN without changing your current hosting set-up.

If you’re hosting offshore, Chinafy routes China-IP-based traffic to the China-optimized version of your site without impacting global traffic which will still see your existing site. If you’re already hosting onshore, all your traffic will see the optimized version for China visitors.

Chinafy then keeps your China-optimized site in sync with your global one, so that any changes to content are reflected accordingly.

You also don’t have to change your current tech stack. Chinafy works with your existing CMS, CDN, and hosting.

China web optimization requires a technical, intentional approach across both infrastructure and code. Developers that take the time to adapt their stack for China can unlock significant performance improvements, directly impacting engagement, usability, and business outcomes for the world’s largest internet market.

Get in touch with Chinafy today to learn more.