TL;DR: UK websites often load slowly or fail altogether in mainland China due to infrastructure limitations, incompatible third-party services, and code-level issues. Addressing these challenges requires more than just changing your hosting or CDN provider. Chinafy optimizes websites at both infrastructure and code levels, enabling fast, reliable access in China without requiring a rebuild or hosting migration.

Why UK websites don’t work in China

If your site is built primarily for a UK or European audience and you’re hearing that it’s inaccessible or painfully slow in China, this isn’t uncommon.

The issue typically stems from two main sources:

Infrastructure-based incompatibilities: China is geographically distant from most UK data centers, resulting in high round-trip times. China’s internet infrastructure operates through a small number of state-affiliated ISPs with limited international interconnectivity and strict network controls. These factors create additional layers of congestion, packet loss, and unpredictable latency, making performance optimization for China uniquely complex compared to other regions.

Code-level incompatibility: UK websites frequently rely on third-party services that don’t function well or are blocked in China (like Google Fonts, Vimeo, Instagram plugins and many more).

Onshore vs. offshore hosting in China

When optimizing a site for China, companies often weigh up whether to host onshore (i.e. in China) vs. offshore (i.e. outside of China):

Onshore hosting: Hosting your website inside China offers certain speed and reliability benefits. However, this option comes with regulatory hurdles and operational overhead. Hosting onshore typically requires:

A registered China business entity

ICP License

PSB Filing

Experienced China-development team

No use of a non-China CMS

& other onshore requirements

Offshore hosting: if you have an existing global website hosted outside of China, there are still available options to make it load fast and fully in China, like Chinafy.

Read more about hosting onshore in China

Will an ICP license make a UK website work in China?

*Disclaimer: This guide is informational and does not constitute legal advice. Chinafy is not a legal or corporate advisory entity, and, given that every business is different, we suggest consulting with your internal legal counsel if you would like advice on any legal or compliance-related concerns, or alternatively we can connect you with one of our partners.

An ICP license (Internet Content Provider license) is required for legally hosting a website onshore in mainland China.

However, when it comes to making your website work in China, two factors are often confused:

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.

If you’re hosting your website onshore in China, certain prerequisites are required for compliance, including:

An ICP filing or license - a certificate displayed on your website, mandatory to legally host your site in China.

A legal entity in China or partnership with one - you cannot obtain an ICP license without a registered business in China.

Compliance with content regulations - China has laws around content compliance, such as avoiding politically sensitive or illegal material.

PSB filing if applicable - for some websites, a Public Security Bureau (PSB) filing may be required to comply with cybersecurity and data security regulations.

Achieving compliance doesn’t guarantee strong web performance in China:

A website with an ICP license may still load slowly or incompletely without the right optimization.

Equally, a website hosted offshore can often perform just as well as an onshore-hosted website with the right optimization solution.

Can I use a CDN to make a UK website work in China?

A CDN alone (even a China-specific one) will not fully solve the challenges of making a UK or European website work well in China. Many assume that simply using a global CDN solves China access issues. In reality:

CDNs can improve speed but not address functionality issues specific to China. They help with asset caching closer to the end user but don’t address by replacing, removing, or optimizing broken scripts or third-party conflicts.

They don’t rewrite or replace elements blocked in China.

They don’t account for frontend behavior that breaks due to incompatible services.

And if you want to use a China CDN, it requires an ICP license and other prerequisites (and still doesn’t address the underlying code-based incompatibilities your website may have).

In short: CDNs can help, but they don’t address the full China web performance problem.

Chinafy optimization

Chinafy uniquely addresses the full stack of website performance issues for China:

No rebuild required: Works with your existing website, regardless of CMS or platform, without needing to host in China as long as the website is not officially blocked.

Handles third-party resources: Combines in-person and platform-level features to detect and treat third-party resources to improve compatibility with China’s internet.

CMS agnostic: Works with WordPress, Shopify, headless frameworks, static sites, and web apps.

Offshore-friendly: Works with both offshore and onshore sites to optimize for China.

Hybrid delivery: Combines CDN and multi-cloud optimization strategies for faster, more resilient delivery in China.

Instead of asking "Do I need to move my site to China?", Chinafy customers ask "How can I make my existing site work better in China?"

Checklist: What your UK website needs to work in China

Here’s a simplified list to get you started:

Test your site from mainland China

Identify potentially incompatible third-party services your site heavily relies on

Assess your current CDN performance or consider CDNs with PoPs (points of presence) closer to China

Consider offshore vs. onshore hosting options

Use Chinafy to automate and streamline the process

If you’re wanting your UK- or Europe-based website to work in China, you have more options than having to rebuild your site, move infrastructure onshore, and navigate China compliance. Chinafy helps to make websites load fast, fully and functionally without compromising your existing global setup.

Ready to see how your site performs in China? Get in touch to learn more.