Emailing in China

Emailing in China

Emailing in China check list

The approach to email addresses has been different in China. Historically many people use their private email account for business not a company email address.

This often means verifying who works for which company can be confusing.

This has been changing in recent years;

  • Chinese business has started using their own domain name
  • New email providers are now available, e.g. Microsoft 360, QQ mail, etc.

In China today there is no reason for a company not to have its own email accounts.

If you are running an office in China we recommend that all inform all staff to use only the company email system on all published information.

Please remember if using your overseas company email system for your Chinese business it may be slow to use and staff will start creating their own Email address to work around the problem. We recommend using a local Chinese email service to get around response time problems.

When visiting China please you remember not all overseas email systems can be seen from China. This normally applies to email services run by Google.

If you require an email system for your Chinese office or while you are visiting China, we recommend QQ mail – https://en.mail.qq.com

Going forward, the use of email, while will not be replaced, should see WeChat messaging as the preferred commutation tool for business and the public. WeChat has all the tools that you fine in an Email system plus messaging and file transfer service (like skype and drop box).

In China people will ask for your WeChat account before your email address. We recommend that open a WeChat account for your business before start trading in China.

last modified: Version V1.3 - 18 June 2019