July 18th, 2026 shadmin
A .cn domain signals to Chinese users, and to Baidu, that your site is legitimately built for the local market. It also tends to perform better in local search results than a generic .com. The process is more paperwork-heavy than registering a Western domain, but it’s manageable if you know the steps. Here’s what’s involved.
1. Confirm Your Eligibility
Foreign companies can register .cn domains — this restriction was lifted years ago — but you’ll need to go through a registrar that supports international applicants and be prepared to submit business verification documents. Individual (non-business) registrations are generally not available to foreign applicants.
2. Choose an Accredited Registrar
Not every domain registrar handles .cn registrations. You’ll need one accredited by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Centre) or a partner reseller that works with foreign businesses. Look for a registrar experienced specifically with foreign applicants, since the verification process differs from domestic registrations.
3. Prepare Your Business Documentation
Chinese domain registration requires real-name verification. As a foreign business, you’ll typically need:
- A copy of your company’s business registration/incorporation certificate
- Notarized or apostilled translation of that certificate into Chinese (requirements vary by registrar)
- A copy of the authorized applicant’s passport or ID
- A completed domain registration application form
Some registrars can help facilitate translation and notarization as part of the registration package.
4. Submit Your Application
Once your documents are ready, your registrar submits them along with your desired domain name for CNNIC review. Unlike .com registrations, .cn domains go through a manual verification process rather than instant activation.
5. Wait for Verification
Approval typically takes a few business days, though it can take longer if additional documentation is requested. Common causes of delay include mismatched company names between documents, missing notarization, or an registrar unfamiliar with foreign paperwork.
6. Complete ICP Filing (If Hosting in China)
Registering the domain and hosting in mainland China are two separate processes. If you plan to host your site on mainland servers, you’ll also need to complete an ICP filing tied to that domain — a separate step with its own documentation requirements. If you’re hosting outside mainland China (e.g., Hong Kong), ICP filing generally isn’t required, but the domain purchase process itself remains the same.
7. Set Up DNS and Launch
Once the domain is approved and active, you can point it to your hosting provider like any other domain — updating nameservers or A records as needed. If this domain will run alongside an existing site (e.g., a .com), plan your redirect and localization strategy at this stage rather than after launch.
The .cn registration process takes longer than a typical domain purchase due to the verification requirements, so it’s worth starting well ahead of your planned launch date. Working with a registrar experienced in handling foreign business applications is the biggest factor in avoiding delays.
Posted in Domain Names | No Comments »
July 18th, 2026 shadmin
Launching a website aimed at users in mainland China is a fundamentally different exercise than launching one for a global or Western audience. Many foreign companies apply their standard playbook and end up with a site that’s slow, invisible, or even inaccessible to the audience they’re trying to reach. Here are the most common mistakes — and how to avoid them.
1. Hosting Outside Mainland China (Without a CDN Workaround)
The single biggest factor in site performance for Chinese users is server location. Hosting on a U.S. or European server means every request has to cross international gateways, which are often congested and subject to inspection delays. The result is slow load times, timeouts, and higher bounce rates.
Fix: Host on a mainland China server (with proper ICP licensing) or use a China-based CDN to cache and serve content closer to your users. If this is not possible, host your website in Hong Kong.
2. Not Understanding the ICP License Requirement
Any website hosted on servers physically located in mainland China is legally required to have an ICP (Internet Content Provider) filing or license. Skipping this isn’t just a compliance risk — unlicensed sites hosted in China can be taken offline entirely.
Fix: Either obtain an ICP filing through a licensed local partner, or host outside mainland China (e.g., Hong Kong) and accept a small performance tradeoff.
3. Assuming Google Tools Will Work
Google Analytics, Google Fonts, Google Maps, YouTube embeds, and Google-hosted JavaScript libraries are blocked or unreliable in China. If your site depends on these, large chunks of it may fail to load — or load so slowly that the whole page stalls.
Fix: Use locally accessible alternatives (Baidu Analytics, self-hosted fonts, Tencent Maps) or self-host key resources instead of pulling them from blocked domains.
4. Treating Translation as Localization
A word-for-word Chinese translation of an English site often feels foreign to local users. Layout conventions, color meanings, trust signals, and even preferred content density differ between Western and Chinese audiences.
Fix: Invest in proper localization — not just translation — including design, imagery, and tone that resonate with local users.
5. Ignoring Baidu SEO
Optimizing only for Google SEO means missing the search engine that actually matters in China. Baidu has different ranking factors, including a strong preference for ICP-licensed, mainland-hosted sites and simplified Chinese content.
Fix: Build a separate SEO strategy for Baidu, including meta tags, site structure, and hosting choices tailored to its crawler and ranking system.
6. Missing Local Payment and Social Integrations
If you’re selling anything, offering only Visa/Mastercard or PayPal will exclude a huge share of Chinese consumers, who overwhelmingly use Alipay and WeChat Pay. Similarly, a site with no WeChat presence misses one of the most important trust and discovery channels in the market.
Fix: Integrate local payment gateways and consider a WeChat Official Account or mini-program alongside your website.
7. Not Testing Real-World Accessibility
Many companies launch a China-facing site without ever checking how it actually performs from within mainland China — relying instead on how it looks from their home office.
Fix: Use in-country testing tools to check load times, blocked resources, and overall accessibility before and after launch.
Getting a China-facing website right means rethinking hosting, compliance, SEO, and localization together — not treating China as an afterthought bolted onto an existing global site. Getting these fundamentals right from day one will save significant time, cost, and frustration down the road.
Posted in China Hosting | No Comments »
