About the Project

Li-Cycle stands at the forefront of lithium-ion battery's resource recovery and is North America's preeminent recycler in this niche. Established in 2016 by a Nasdaq-listed parent, this company has quickly risen to a global stature driven by international clients and partners worldwide, including China.

However, Li-Cycle, faced digital barriers that kept it from fully engaging with their audience in China.

The Challenge

Like any other global websites, the Li Cycle website faced slow loading times, inconsistent access, and partially rendered pages within China.

Li-Cycle’s WordPress website took over 34 seconds to, only partially, load

Essential website elements such as static assets delivered by Cloudflare CDN outside of China were not consistently loading from China

Vimeo videos were not able to be viewed as well

More about “Does WordPress work in China?”

Enter Chinafy: The Cross-Border Web Performance Solution

Chinafy was bolted onto their technical stack, and configured by the Chinafy team in under 2 weeks resulting in -

The Chinafy Results

(i) A much faster website

Chinafy optimized the Li Cycle website to load reliably and consistently on par with its global original in China. Comparing the Chinafy version of the site against the original version in Beijing, the average Fully Load times are respectively -

Original: 13.6 seconds (Up to 34.5 seconds)

Chinafy: 8.9 seconds

The Li Cycle website now reliably loads in China (Source: Li Cycle)

This performance gain is achieved by -

Resolving code-based incompatibility issues stemming from 3rd party resources (untouched by CDNs)

Cloudflare CDN’s full capability to be maximized on Li-Cycle’s static assets

Below is a time series analysis report of the Li Cycle site before and after Chinafy in Beijing.

Measuring Chinafy Deliverables

We deliver improvement across speed and deliverability in China compared to the website. This is an objective user test and confirmed directly during the User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Keep in mind, though, that the Chinafy site doesn't generally exceed the loading time of the site outside of China, although there are exceptions like Li Cycle and the House Collective by Swire Hotel.

(ii) A more interactive, visual user experience

WordPress performance goes beyond just speed; it also involves making a website more deliverable to enable the full user experience.

For example, common files in the Western library, such as YouTube and Vimeo, do not work in China.

The Li Cycle team leverages Chinafy to convert video content, including those on Vimeo player, into their non-branded, China-friendly equivalent on an ongoing basis.

Before-vs-after Chinafy Comparison of the Li Cycle website.

What else?

Besides achieving performance improvements that are verifiable by third parties, the Li Cycle team can also benefit from -

Chinafy's automation rules keep global and localized versions of the site in sync

Li-Cycle could continue using its existing website infrastructure on WordPress and Cloudflare with minimal fuss.

Thorough User Acceptance Testing (UAT) completed in just two weeks.

Improved access in China without needing a VPN

Chinafy Partner EasyLing to localize and translate website content

Don’t just take our words, take theirs.

Why Chinafy?

“We chose Chinafy because it is a one-stop solution for website optimization in China. Its ability to optimize and accelerate website performance in China ensures a seamless and fast user experience for our audience in the country.”

How did you come across Chinafy?

“We discovered Chinafy through research we conducted when looking for a vendor who could help us optimize our website while improving the overall user experience in China. A few of our industry peers also praised its effectiveness in overcoming challenges associated with website accessibility in China. This positive feedback ultimately led to us choosing Chinafy for our needs.”

What challenges did you face initially with the site in China?

“Our primary challenge was website accessibility, performance issues, and slow website loading time in China. These challenges were addressed through our partnership with Chinafy.”

Anything else?

“We're pleased with the service and support that Chinafy provides. Implementation was seamless and their team has been easy to work with and addressed our concerns in a timely fashion.”

Click “Get Started” to achieve ecommerce success in China, with Chinafy.