In this article, we will walk you through some speed and legal tests we conducted to determine if Chinafy works in mainland China or not. Our staff conducted the tests in Shanghai (China Mainland) and Hong Kong (outside Mainland China) and we used 3rd party testing tools to ensure our tests weren’t biased.
By the end of this article, you should have a good understanding of Chinafy and if it works in Mainland China or not.
What is Chinafy?
Chinafy is a small company based in Hong Kong. They operate a cross-border web platform that uses “near-China CDNs” to helps websites load in China - without requiring an ICP or building a site from scratch.
Does Chinafy work in China?
The short answer is no.
Below is the long answer if you want to understand why:
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Chinafy does not utilize servers or CDNs within mainland China, which results in slow access speeds across mainland China as we’ll see below.
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If your business doesn’t have any legal licenses (ie. ICP) for your site and content in China, it is operating illegally in China.
Don’t just take our word on Chinafy’s performance in China. Let’s look at some popular websites powered by Chinafy and see how well they work in China.
How do we check if a website works in China or not?
There are two tests we need to perform to conclude if a website works in China.
- How fast is the site in Mainland China?
- Does the website operated by the business comply with the laws in China?
The second part of the test is a must for most businesses or organizations, not optional. If you are unsure why it’s a must, read Untold facts about ICP for China, and why you should get it.
Speed and Legal Tests Results
We picked 5 websites from Chinafy’s customers and considered these websites to follow Chinafy’s best practices.
Then we follow the test questions mentioned earlier for each website and create a report with the following format:
1. A figure to see how fast the site performs across Mainland China.
This figure basically shows how fast the website loads across Mainland China (green = fast, red =slow)
2. A video to see the site’s performance in China visually.
We made a screen record of the website loading in Shanghai, China. This provides you with an intuitive way to see how fast the site visually loads and understand what people in China actually experience when they visit the website.
3. A yes-no check to see if the site complied with the laws in China.
If the site passes the legal check, it’s a green check. If it doesn’t pass, we will tell you why it doesn’t pass.
Now, let’s dive into the reports for each of the selected businesses using Chinafy to power their sites in China.
American Diabetes Association, www.diabetes.org
The American Diabetes Association is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes
From our speed test, people in China have difficulty viewing the images on American Diabetes Association’s website. (that’s what the below figure means, red means unable to display images).
To see it in action, here is what a normal user would see in China:
Since the website cannot be reached by the user in China, we don’t provide a screen recorded video, even if we do, you will only see a blank screen like the above image.
Does the American Diabetes Association’s website comply with the laws in China?
No. It doesn’t pass our legal check because the business does not have an ICP license displayed at the footer of their website.
If you don’t know what an ICP license is, click here to learn more.
Finding if a website has an ICP license is pretty straightforward, just scroll to the bottom of the page, if you see a number like this (see below Nike’s websites for China), then the business behind the website has an ICP for China. If not, they don’t have it. You can check if your website has it or not.
Below is an example of Nike’s website in China, and its ICP number.
Similarly, we ran the same tests for the rest of the websites powered by Chinafy.
Wycombe Abbey, www.wycombeabbey.com
Wycombe Abbey is an independent girls’ boarding and day school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls schools in academic results.
From our speed test, people in China will have difficulty viewing the images and opening them on Wycombe Abbey’s website (that’s what the below figure means, red means unable to display images).
Here is a more intuitive way to see it, we screen-recorded the process when a user browses Wycombe Abbey’s website in Shanghai, click the video below to see it in action:
Does Wycombe Abbey’s website comply with the laws in China?
No. It doesn’t pass our legal check because the business does not even have an ICP license at the footer of their website.
If you don’t know what an ICP license is, click here to learn more.
Mandai Wildlife Group, www.mandai.com
Mandai Wildlife Group, formerly known as Wildlife Reserves Singapore, is a self-funded organisation based in Singapore which manages the majority of zoos in the country. The organisation currently manages the Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari, the Jurong Bird Park and the River Wonders in Singapore.
From our speed test, people in China will have difficulty opening Mandai’s website (that’s what the below figure means, red means unable to display images).
Here is a more intuitive way to see it, we screen-recorded the process when a user browses Mandai’s website in Shanghai, click the video below to see it in action:
Does Mandai Wildlife Group’s websites comply with the laws in China?
No. It doesn’t pass our legal check because the international website does not have an ICP license at the footer of their website.
If you don’t know what an ICP license is, click here to learn more.
Plaza Premium Lounge, www.plazapremiumlounge.com
Plaza Premium Lounge is a collection of airport lounges, meet and greet services and airport hotels worldwide, that strive to make air travel easier and more pleasant. Lounges offer a variety of services, which range from complimentary food and beverages to showers, massages and business centers.
From our speed test, people in China have difficulty viewing the images on Plaza Premium Lounge’s website. (that’s what the below figure means, red means unable to display images).
Here is a more intuitive way to see it, we screen-recorded the process when a user browses Plaza Premium Lounge’s website in Shanghai, click the video below to see it in action:
Does Plaza Premium Lounge’s websites comply with the laws in China?
No. It doesn’t pass our legal check because the website does not even have an ICP license at the footer of their website.
If you don’t know what an ICP license is, click here to learn more.
UMEDA Shopping, www.umeda-sc.jp
UMEDA is the heart of shopping in Japan. Located in Osaka, the UMEDA area is home to six major shopping malls, each with their own unique character and atmosphere. It contains the greatest department store square meterage in all of Japan, and boasts the second highest gross sales in the country.
From our speed test, people in China will have difficulty viewing the images and opening UMEDA’s website (that’s what the below figure means, red means unable to display images).
To see it in action, here is what a normal user would see in China:
Since the website cannot be reached by the user in China, we don’t provide a screen recorded video, even if we do, you will only see a blank screen like the above image.
Does UMEDA Shopping’s website comply with the laws in China?
No. It doesn’t pass our legal check because the business does not even have an ICP license at the footer of their website.
If you don’t know what an ICP license is, click here to learn more.
In short, if your business is going to China, make sure your website passes the two tests (speed and legal) we mentioned above to have a stable and compliant site with a good viewing and browsing quality for your users in China.
If you defy the laws in China, your site can be permanently blocked and you will have no right to appeal or alter this decision.
If you need help going to China, please contact us. We are happy to help ensure that your company stays compliant and has a blazing fast site across China.
