TL;DR: Rehosting your website on servers inside Mainland China can improve Time-to-First-Byte (TTFB) for local users, but it’s not a complete solution for China web performance. Factors like front-end weight, blocked third-party resources, and infrastructure fragmentation can still slow down sites inside China and may degrade performance for global users. Before committing to onshore hosting in China, businesses should weigh the trade-offs between compliance requirements (e.g. ICP license, data localization), operational complexity, and overall website compatibility in China, especially when offshore China optimization solutions may offer comparable performance with fewer constraints.

Disclaimer: This guide is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Chinafy is not a legal or corporate advisory entity. Given that legal obligations vary by business type and context, we recommend consulting with qualified legal counsel for advice specific to your organization. If needed, Chinafy can connect you with one of our experienced legal partners.

Hosting onshore in mainland China is often a choice businesses make to reduce compliance risks and improve website performance when much of their target audience is based there. While this can be the right decision for the business, it’s not a shortcut or silver bullet. Businesses often overlook the trade-offs involved with rehosting in mainland China, which we’ll provide an overview of in this short guide.

Misconceptions: What companies expect from rehosting

Assumption: “If we move our whole site to a server in Mainland China, all our web performance issues and compliance concerns will go away.”

Let’s first clarify the difference between web performance and compliance in China:

Performance: How fast, fully, and reliably your website loads for users in China.

Compliance: Whether your website meets the necessary legal and regulatory requirements to operate in China, such as obtaining an ICP license.

Read more about the difference between web performance and compliance in China

So, what do companies expect from moving their website to mainland China?

Three common misconceptions are:

1

Misconception: Hosting your website in China guarantees reduced latency and functionality because the server is geographically closer to the end users.

Reality: Physical proximity lowers the network round-trip time (RTT) but website performance also depends on factors like front-end weight and third-party resources that can inflate request times, so hosting in China does not guarantee faster load times or improved functionality.

2

Misconception: That obtaining an ICP license and meeting other regulatory requirements will ensure a website is fully accessible and functional in China.

Reality: An ICP license ensures legal access to operate in China but it doesn't guarantee website performance or functionality as it doesn’t address the technical fragmentation of the Chinese internet. Performance and functionality challenges in China are primarily technical, not regulatory.

Here’s how Chinafy helped Banyan Tree make their China-hosted website faster

3

Misconception: That compliance is “solved” once the site is inside China.

Reality: Hosting onshore in mainland China involves additional China-specific compliance processes, which may require closer coordination with local authorities such as the CAC and MIIT. These requirements can vary depending on your business model, industry, and operational goals, and may mean more administrative work on the ground. That said, compliance obligations exist regardless of hosting location, and the scope will differ based on how your operations are structured.

Global trade-offs with a China-hosted website

We’ve had some clients move their global sites to mainland China, hoping to boost website performance for their China audience. Unfortunately, they later reported that this decision not only slowed their site for global visitors but also failed to resolve performance issues for users in China.

Here’s what can happen for websites hosted in mainland China that also serve global visitors:

Worse-off global performance – hosting the site inside China can potentially lead to slower performance elsewhere because the origin is now thousands of kilometres from non-China users, even if the site leverages a CDN (content delivery network) with points of presence (PoPs) outside of China. Non-China visitors interact with in-China hosting for some website functionality, which leads to increased latency.

Third-party resources – Websites often rely on third-party resources like fonts, videos, analytics, or embedded tools, each of which requires a separate HTTP request. While these can increase page load times globally, China’s internet environment introduces unique challenges. Many third-party domains, such as those from Google, Vimeo, or Facebook, are blocked or slow to resolve in China. This results in stalled page loads, failed elements, or long Time-to-Interactive (TTI), even if your site is hosted locally and has fast round-trip time (RTT). Simply put, unless third-party resources are made China-compatible, they can act as bottlenecks that undermine both speed and functionality.

China-centric resources – Conversely, integrating China-local services, such as Youku for video or WeChat Pay for payments can significantly improve functionality and user experience within Mainland China. However, these platforms are often built primarily for domestic users, meaning they are typically hosted on China-optimized infrastructure and presented in Simplified Chinese. As a result, they may introduce latency, language mismatches, or usability challenges for global audiences, especially in regions with lower connectivity to Chinese networks.

Cost profile – Hosting in China can often come with large setup costs, particularly if your business does not already have an entity in China. Costs can include local cloud instances, ICP service provider fees, in-China employee headcount and compliance consultants. Based on 2025 pricing for hosting, compliance agencies, and ICP licenses, rehosting a website in China can often cost a minimum of US$20,000.

Operational complexity - Maintaining both global and onshore operations can mean managing separate DevOps workflows, compliance layers, and regional support all of which may increase the long-term cost of ownership.

Key takeaways

Rehosting doesn’t guarantee functionality: Hosting in China can improve RTT/TTFB, but full optimization still depends on how your website is built.

Compliance expands, not contracts: Onshore presence may help with compliance, but may also naturally introduce more layers of regulatory oversight and resources. ICP is only the starting line; ongoing reviews under CSL, DSL, PIPL, and 2024 cross-border data provisions follow.

Global users may suffer with certain technical configurations: A China-centric origin can add several seconds for US/EU visitors even on a global CDN.

Test before you leap: Benchmark from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and your top non-China markets both before and after any change.

Evaluate hybrid solutions: Acceleration layers can often deliver “China fast” and “world fast” without full re-hosting.

Rehosting in China is sometimes essential and often beneficial, but it’s never a shortcut. Whether you’re required to host in China or exploring options, the decision should be based on clear business goals, regulatory obligations, and technical realities. For businesses exploring faster, scalable alternatives or the most suitable configuration for their company, Chinafy can help bridge the gap between global infrastructure and China web performance.

Chinafy specializes in making your existing website – wherever it’s hosted – perform in China and globally without you needing to rebuild infrastructure or maintain two code bases. Talk to Chinafy today and see how we can accelerate your site in China within weeks.