TL;DR: YouTube remains inaccessible in mainland China in 2025, so brands that rely on embedded videos often look to domestic services such as Youku, Tencent Video, iQIYI, Bilibili, Douyin and Kuaishou. Manually swapping every YouTube (or Vimeo) embed can be resource-intensive and can negatively impact the non-China user experience. Chinafy automates China-specific delivery of video assets, giving both global and Chinese visitors a fast, reliable experience.

In 2025, YouTube continues to be inaccessible and officially blocked in China. As well as the platform itself, this means any YouTube iframe or API call on a website will stall for visitors in mainland China.

This makes it harder for non-China businesses to share video content with the Chinese market. However, several alternatives to YouTube exist within China, offering unique features and catering to the needs of Chinese users.

In this article, we will explore YouTube alternatives in China, discuss their features and functionalities, and provide tips on simplifying video file replacement for websites for web visitors from China while preserving your global experience.

What are the alternatives to YouTube in China?

Several domestic video-sharing platforms have emerged as alternatives to YouTube in China, catering to the unique needs and preferences of Chinese users. Some of the most popular video platforms in China include:

Youku (Alibaba)

Often referred to as the "YouTube of China," Youku is one of the largest video-sharing platforms in the country. It offers a wide range of content, including movies, TV shows, and user-generated videos. Alibaba does not release monthly user figures but Youku saw around 580 million users in 2019.

Tencent Video

Operated by Tencent, one of China's largest technology companies, Tencent Video has around 117 million paying subscribers (Q1 2025) and offers a vast library of licensed content, , including movies, dramas, and variety shows and deep WeChat integration.. It also features user-generated content and live streaming.

iQiyi

iQiyi is another major video-streaming platform in China, offering a diverse range of content, including movies, dramas, variety shows, and documentaries. It is known for its high-quality original programming and exclusive partnerships with international studios. Its SaaS platform has around 696 million monthly active users.

Bilibili

With around 340 million monthly active users, Bilibili is targeted primarily at younger audiences, and is a video-sharing platform focused on animation, gaming, and user-generated content. It features a vibrant community of creators and offers interactive features such as bullet comments.

Douyin (ByteDance)

Douyin is China’s short vertical video and social commerce platform, often compared to TikTok, also owned by ByteDance. Douyin has the most monthly active users of the video platforms mentioned in this article - 766.5 million.

Kuaishou

Kuaishou is also a short-form video platform and social network with its own video editor. In the first quarter of 2025, Kuaishou reported 408 million daily active users for its app, and 711.7 million monthly active users.

Drawbacks of using China video platforms for a global website

Replacing video files on websites serving visitors in China can consume valuable resources and time in duplicate efforts. You could also impact the existing experience of your website, as replacing an existing video platform with a China-friendly equivalent may compromise your non-China web visitor experiences.

The manual process can involve:

Converting files into compatible formats for China-friendly platforms

Possibly hosting locally with related regulatory requirements

Navigating simplified Chinese-only interfaces

The possibility of additional headcount to manage Chinese platforms

Compromising the non-China visitor’s experience.

How to make website videos work in China

If you’re using video tools that aren’t accessible in China, but you aren’t rebuilding your site specifically for China, Chinafy offers an effective alternative that works with your existing website.

Chinafy automates the identification and replacement of commonly used video site embeds like YouTube and Vimeo.

How Chinafy works:

Chinafy produces a 'China-specific' version of your site.

Chinafy uses rule-based optimization to address blocked or slow resources like YouTube embeds.

It replaces them with China-friendly equivalents or removes those that are blocked without a China-replacement.

The China-friendly version of your website is served to IP addresses in China, while the existing global site remains unchanged.

This means you keep your global website and video hosting strategy, so no URL or SEO changes for your existing site. Chinafy also tackles all the heavy-lifting, so little to no IT involvement is required from your team.

If you’re searching for ways to make videos play reliably on your website in China without overhauling your existing tech stack, talk to Chinafy today for a preview of how your site can perform in China.