China Focus

Why this is difficult to manage from Europe alone

The Chinese market is not simply another language version of an existing website. It is a market in its own right – technically, legally and editorially – and every step into it involves official procedures.

Anyone operating a website on a server in mainland China needs an ICP filing: an application submitted to the relevant ministry based on a Chinese business licence. Without this registration, no Chinese provider will connect the domain to the hosting environment. Consoles and support are operated in Chinese, identity verification requires Chinese mobile numbers, identification documents and facial recognition, and enquiries are expected to be answered within local business hours.

Anyone trying to manage this from Europe does not fail because of the language first, but because of legal eligibility: at no point in the process can a European management team provide the required personal identification locally.

That is why our presence on the ground is not an additional service, but the prerequisite for everything that follows.

 

Authorities and bureaucracy

Registration and legal requirements

Entering the Chinese market involves official procedures. They determine the timeline for all subsequent steps.

• Domain selection and registration, verification against the domain holder
• ICP filing: documentation, application submission, support through to approval
• Registration with the Public Security Bureau, compliant display of the registration number in the footer
• Verification procedures for platform accounts
• Preliminary assessment without a Chinese company of your own, before any effort is incurred
• Deadline management: domain renewal, confirmation of the ICP filing, annual account verification, supporting documents when company names or contact details change

Missing a deadline does not result in a reminder email, but in deactivation.

 

Web infrastructure

Website: hosting, CMS and technology

• Provider selection coordinated with the ICP filing process
• Set-up of the hosting environment, SSL, backups, monitoring and ongoing operation
• Websites based on virtually all common open-source CMS platforms, including WordPress and TYPO3: setup, customisation and maintenance
• Templates, editorial workflows and training for editorial teams
• Analysis and replacement of external dependencies: fonts, mapping services, spam protection, embedded videos, analytics and international CDNs
• Load-time measurements and functional testing from within China

Two points are regularly overlooked: The ICP filing is tied to the access provider – changing providers later means going through the process again from the beginning. And a website that loads in two seconds in Europe can take half a minute in Shanghai without anyone in Europe noticing.

 

Social Media

Social media platforms and content

Integrated management of the leading Chinese platforms: WeChat Official Account and WeChat Channels, Xiaohongshu (RED), Douyin, Zhihu, Toutiao and Baijiahao.

• Account setup and verification according to platform type
• Content and editorial planning
• Copy and design created in Chinese rather than translated
• Video production
• Publishing and ongoing account management
• Recommendation of the right platform mix based on target audience and communication objectives

These channels are particularly important for industrial B2B companies: they create multiple touchpoints for building awareness, distributing expert content and turning digital interaction into qualified enquiries.

 

Marketing and advertising

Campaigns in the Chinese market

Search advertising on Baidu and Bing, WeChat Advertising, paid media on Douyin, Xiaohongshu (RED) and other platforms.

• Set-up and verification of advertising accounts
• Campaign planning and budget management
• Advertising assets and landing pages
• Review against platform policies and regulatory requirements before campaigns go live
• Approval processes and lead-time planning for each platform
• Ongoing evaluation and optimisation

Particular attention must be paid to advertising language: superlatives and claims of uniqueness that are common in European marketing materials often need to be adapted before being used in paid campaigns. This review takes place before production, not after rejection.

 

Digital applications

Digital experiences that turn attention into interaction

WeChat Mini Programs, H5 applications, Mini Games, mobile apps and other customised solutions for marketing, sales and customer engagement.

Typical use cases include: product overviews, selection tools, enquiry processes, trade fair registrations, campaign experiences and lead qualification.

Mini Programs are particularly relevant in China: they run directly within WeChat, without an app store download or installation. Users can move directly from a post or conversation into a digital service.

 

AI visibility

Measurement with aiva

If you want to be found in the Chinese market, the answer does not come from Western models.

aiva continuously measures visibility across six Chinese language models – DeepSeek, Doubao, Ernie, Qwen, Hunyuan and Kimi – queried through our infrastructure in Shanghai, using questions generated in Chinese and measured against a defined competitive environment. The result shows not only your own position, but also which sources the models turn to instead.

 

For agencies

effective as your implementation partner in China

Agencies that manage a client across Europe encounter a barrier in the Chinese market that cannot be overcome through research alone. Registration, verification and contact with authorities require a Chinese legal entity and personal identification on the ground. In these cases, we work as the implementation partner – the agency retains the client, we deliver.

How we appear to the end client can be defined on a project-by-project basis:

• Neutral. We remain behind the scenes. Communication, documentation and reporting run exclusively through the agency.
• Named. We are identified as the implementation partner for China, while the agency remains the primary contact.
• Directly involved. We participate in meetings and answer technical and regulatory questions directly.

The agency retains the client relationship, strategy, brand management and overall coordination. We handle everything that requires local legal eligibility or local presence.

 

Approach

How the collaboration works

Your contact person is where you are: in Mannheim or Strasbourg, in German, English or French. Delivery takes place in Shanghai. There is no chain of subcontractors in between, but one organisation with one project manager.

That is the practical difference compared with buying directly. When buying directly in China, you negotiate contracts, invoices and escalations in an environment you cannot fully oversee. When buying through a European intermediary, you receive a passed-on request with a markup. Here, both sides belong to one organisation: contract and invoicing in Europe, implementation and verification in China.

The time difference becomes an advantage: decisions made in Europe in the evening are implemented by the next morning.

 

Still have questions?

FAQs

• Do I need my own company in China for a website?
  For an ICP filing, yes: the applicant must hold a Chinese business licence. Without your own company, we assess on a case-by-case basis which options are available – before the project starts and before any effort is incurred.
• Can't I simply host my website outside China?
  That does not solve the problem; it merely shifts it. The website remains accessible, but it is slow, and its availability cannot be relied upon.
• How long does an ICP filing take?
  This depends on the provider, region and completeness of the documentation. We assess lead times for each project rather than quoting a fixed figure that is rarely accurate.
• Is translating our existing website enough?
  Technically, rarely. Anything that loads resources from outside China can significantly slow down the website or make it unusable. Editorially, it is not enough either: Chinese content is created in Chinese.
• Do you also work with agencies?
  Yes, as an implementation partner. If desired, we can remain behind the scenes and not appear to the end client.
• How much does it cost?
  That depends on the scope. A sensible starting point is a conversation about your objectives, timeline and existing prerequisites.

 

Contact

Talk directly to Shanghai 

(in Chinese, German or English)

Yi Wu-Blumenschein / 吴懿
Managing Director Shanghai

Tel: +86 21 6208 0215
Mobile CN: +86 156 0161 3929
Mobile DE: +49 179 9744 666
yi.wu@effective-world.com

effective marketing (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Dowell Space, 4th Floor, Caitong Kuntian Building
No. 777 Ningxia Road, Putuo District
200065 Shanghai
China
shanghai@effective-world.com
www.effective-world.com