Performance website upgrades for the Chinese internet
Below is a list of improvements you can make to your website/app to improve performance.
Our cost-effective services will help your business gain visibility in China without requiring the performance changes outlined below. I'd like you to please follow the links to these services to learn more.
Recommended performance improvement for the internet in China
While the points below have been written to improve website performance in China, many apply to improving website performance anywhere in the world.
Most of the points below concern using the Internet's resources more efficiently or, in some cases, using fewer Internet resources.
The world today, correctly, is looking at resource usage. The internet is a resource. It costs multibillion dollars to build and operate worldwide, with the majority of this cost attributed to energy.
Most internet connections are fixed-cost; therefore, reducing internet usage does not benefit you in terms of financial savings.
Enhancing your internet performance, which is crucial for visibility in China, can generally improve your customer experience and help reduce global internet power usage.
In our thinking, improving website performance is a “green” initiative that enhances customer experience.
Generally, except for social media content, minimal internet content for business is blocked in China.
If you need more information on these points below, we would be happy to help. Please make the request here...
Internet in China: Performance issues for overseas websites
- Internet from overseas into China. There is a limited capacity for internet traffic entering and leaving China. Read more about the public internet structure in China.
- Internet public traffic routing worldwide. Public internet traffic is routed from China through Japan and Taiwan, and, in most cases, to North America for distribution. This often adds between 3 and 10 times to the network response times. Read more about the public internet structure in China.
- Great Chinese Firewall. There are restrictions on social media websites/apps and third-party services, such as Google. This results in missing parts on your website or pages not loading. Read more about the Great Chinese Firewall.
- Overseas DNS performance. China's preference for overseas DNS is poor. The time it takes to look up overseas DNS records results in the customer not finding your website. Read more about Overseas DNS performance in China.
Slow DNS lookup in China
Your internet content cannot be accessed from China without prompting your browser to refresh (press enter three or four times).
If you want to be seen in China, one key step is to purchase your domain name from China and use a Chinese DNS service.
For more information, please see the local Chinese DNS records.
The size of your images on your website
Could you check the size of your images? Most images on websites, APIs, etc, are larger than the size displayed. Could you reduce the size of your photos and reload them to your API / website?
A large image will always be displayed slowly in China and will take longer to load than needed in the rest of the world.
Please use the site page test to see how long it takes to load your images.
The size of your images on your website from a mobile / tablet
The size of images becomes even more critical when you access internet content over a mobile network. A mobile network often has slower data download speeds than a Wi-Fi mobile connection.
Reducing your image size to fit on a mobile screen is essential. This will significantly speed up response and reduce internet usage and server processing times.
There are many ways of achieving this. Here are a few examples;
- loading different image sizes for mobiles, tablets, etc. It is not the most effective, as a slight change to the website's HTML may be required for each image.
- A configuration change on the web server (Apache, Nginx, etc.) that automatically allows the image size. A change may also be needed to the HTML code.
- Some CDN services support different image sizes for mobiles, tablets, etc. Again, a change may also be needed to the HTML code. This is a poor option for China, given that China has restrictions on CDN data.
If you would like more information on automatically resizing your images, videos, etc, we would be happy to help. Please make the request here...
Displayed images as required
Prioritise your image loading on your website pages from top to bottom. This allows the first images the customers see to be displayed first, and then the rest are displayed as you scroll down the page. This is called “native lazy loading”.
If a customer jumps from page to page, response times will be reduced with “native lazy loading” on a slower internet connection, which is the case for overseas networks in China. Suppose your business's most crucial information, such as messages, links, and images, is at the top of each page. In that case, the customer experience is improved both in response time and understanding of your business, products, and services.
Third-party software in your website/app's internet content
In today’s "Cloud" services, understanding the status of your website or app's internet components is challenging. Often, the parts (files) that create your internet content come from different parts of the internet.
Most internet pages' contents come from many locations worldwide. While this approach enables your internet developer to create content quickly, it's crucial to note that accessing data from China can result in very slow international performance or complete blockage, potentially leaving your internet page without information. This awareness can help you plan and optimise your content for a smoother user experience. For example;
Googlefiles. Google fonts are used in most websites to use these files. They are very slow to access in China (over a minute)
CDN systems. Many Cloud companies use CDN systems. These systems split the contents of your large file across many points on the Internet, which is a good idea for large websites. However, it is not necessary for most websites/apps. Loading website content for a single location, provided the website server is correctly configured, will generally be the fastest. In China, CDNs are slow to respond or are blocked.
Overseas Social Media. Social media companies, such as Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn, are often enabled on websites, but this is blocked in China, resulting in missing content. Always leave links to social media channels on your website / APP. Try avoiding enabling social media content. Adding new content directly to your website/app will help with performance and search engine indexing.
You can see what is happening to your website content by using this testing APP – Internet site page test.
Slow/busy Chinese Internet
The internet to and from China often runs slowly, including in Hong Kong.
The internet has run fast in China. However, it is beginning to slow down during peak usage, such as during the working day, early evening when children come home from school, or bad weather.
To understand how the Internet works, it's helpful to examine the Chinese Internet Structure.
Last modified: Version 2.3 - September 2025