Today, WeChat is the largest social media platform in China, with over 1 billion monthly active users. Compare this to Facebook's 2 billion worldwide. Given that WeChat's user base is concentrated heavily in China it's easy to see why many users call it the Chinese Facebook.
WeChat is the closest thing to Facebook that China has, and at nearly 1.2 billion users – including at least 100 million registered users outside of China – WeChat should be your top priority for your Chinese social media marketing.
Facebook has more than 2.96 billion monthly active users worldwide, but virtually no footprint in China. 1 That's because the service, the parent company of which is now known as Meta (META), is banned in that country along with many other global social media providers.
WeChat is the most popular app for video chats and voice calls in China. WeChat was developed by Tencent, a Chinese investment holding conglomerate.
Finding and making Chinese friends is easy if you know where to look. There are various WeChat groups about different hobbies, so try one of these groups out. Additionally, some organizations create group activities such as hiking up a mountain, visiting a nearby city, etc. Many large cities are full of these groups.
1. WeChat. WeChat is the must-have social commerce platform in China, with over 1.2 billion monthly active users. Chinese users spend an average of over 70 minutes a day within the app.
As of 20 August 2013, there have been reports of Facebook being partially unblocked in China. However, according to the "Blocked in China" website, Facebook is still blocked as of 7 December 2019. Facebook is not blocked in Hong Kong and Macau, which are special administrative regions operating under different systems.
Is Messenger allowed in China? Many people in China continue to use Facebook Messenger in China. However, unless you have a method to get around the Great Firewall of China, you won't be able to use Messenger because it's blocked. Currently, the most common and simplest system for accessing Messenger is using a VPN.
WhatsApp's China ban is part of a government-led crackdown on social media messaging apps that began in earnest in 2009. In fact, WhatsApp was the last of Meta-owned (formerly Facebook) apps to be blocked. Facebook was banned in 2009, while Instagram met the same fate in 2014.
Oasis is Sina Weibo's answer to Instagram. It is heavily focused on sharing images, geolocating and building followings. Still relatively new, but one to keep an eye on. Nearly 70% of users are younger than 29 years old, and female users outnumber male users.
Instead, there's a different version of TikTok — a sister app called Douyin. Both are owned by Beijing-based parent company ByteDance, but Douyin launched before TikTok and became a viral sensation in China. Its powerful algorithm became the foundation for TikTok and is key to its global success.
Baidu is China's largest and most widely used search engine, much like Google in the U.S.
Twitter. Japan is Twitter's second-largest market after the US and many have commented on the intriguing fact that it dominates over Facebook in terms of popularity (which bucks the global trend).
Chinese multimedia conglomerate Tencent Holdings is one of the largest companies in the world and owns hundreds of brands and subsidiaries, including WeChat. With over a billion active users, WeChat serves as China's primary messaging app, social media platform and payment app all rolled into one platform.
WeChat, the Chinese-developed social messaging app, although very popular among the Chinese who grew up using it, is not necessarily a favorite among newcomers who have gotten used to the well-formulated UIs in other popular apps.
WhatsApp is blocked in China because the Chinese government can't moderate or censor messages that are sent on the app. Travelers to China can work around this by switching to government-approved WhatsApp alternatives and using a VPN. I found the 5 best official and non-official WhatsApp alternatives.
Is Google blocked in China? Yes, Google is one of many websites blocked in China, as confirmed by EXPERTE.com's Internet censorship check. Our tool checks the availability of websites in China using servers located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.
Contrary to some reports, Netflix isn't actually blocked in China, but rather the streaming platform has never been launched there. It's possible to access the Netflix website in China, but there will be no library of content for you to view. Netflix is available in more than 200 countries.
The best method to access Facebook in China is via a Virtual Private Network, often called a “VPN”. I recommend and use both ExpressVPN and NordVPN to do this.
China. YouTube was first blocked in China for over five months from October 16, 2007 to March 22, 2008. It was blocked again from March 24, 2009, although a Foreign Ministry spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny whether YouTube had been blocked. Since then, YouTube has been inaccessible from mainland China.
Youku, the YouTube Alternative in China
After the ban on YouTube in 2009, Youku took on the role of Chinese YouTube. This video platform is now property of Alibaba and has an attractive base of 500 million monthly active users that view over 800 million videos daily.
Fact: TikTok, which is not available in mainland China, has established Los Angeles and Singapore as headquarters locations to meet its business needs. That is in keeping with ByteDance's approach to aligning business needs to the markets where its services operate. ByteDance does not have a single global headquarters.
TikTok, which has over 150 million American users, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd., which appoints its executives. ByteDance is based in Beijing but registered in the Cayman Islands, as is common for privately owned Chinese companies.