Guide

Selling to mainland China from Hong Kong: what changes for a website or app.

Mainland customers are close, numerous and used to different tools. A site that works well in Hong Kong may load slowly across the border, lack the payment methods customers expect and use wording that does not feel local. This guide lists what to think about, and where you need specialist advice. We are not lawyers or China-market consultants, and the rules change.

Key takeaways

Decide first: market to mainland customers from Hong Kong, or operate inside the mainland. The technical and legal consequences differ greatly.
Hosting inside the mainland generally requires a filing and usually a mainland legal entity. Hosting in Hong Kong generally does not, but access can be slower or restricted.
Customers expect Simplified Chinese, their own wording and mainland payment apps.
Many mainland customers discover and buy through platforms such as WeChat rather than through a website.
Take specialist advice before launch. Rules on data, advertising and payments are specific and change.

Two very different projects

Marketing and selling from Hong Kong. Your site, app and systems stay in Hong Kong (or elsewhere outside the mainland). Mainland customers visit and pay across the border. Simpler legally, but with speed, access and payment trade-offs.
Operating inside the mainland. A mainland entity, mainland hosting, local licences and local payment accounts. A much bigger undertaking, closer to setting up a business than to building a website.

Most Hong Kong businesses begin with the first and move to the second only if demand justifies it.

Language and wording

Simplified Chinese is expected. Offer it as its own, properly reviewed version, not an automatic conversion of the Traditional text. Vocabulary differs between regions, and some product and legal terms are not the same.
Check units, dates and address forms. Mainland addresses follow a different structure and use postcodes; phone numbers and ID formats differ.
Keep your Hong Kong and mainland pages separate where the offer, price or delivery differs, with clear language and region choices. See bilingual website SEO for how to structure versions.

Payments

Mainland wallets and UnionPay are how many mainland customers expect to pay. Some are available to Hong Kong merchants through specific providers; others require a mainland entity. Confirm with providers what you can actually accept, and in which currency you are paid.
Cross-border rules and limits apply to some payments and to how funds move. Ask your provider and your adviser.
Currency. Decide whether to show prices in renminbi, Hong Kong dollars or both, and who bears conversion costs.

Hosting, speed and the filing

Hosting inside the mainland generally requires a filing with the authorities (commonly called an ICP filing), and filings generally need a mainland legal entity. Sites that sell or take payments may need further licensing.
Hosting in Hong Kong generally avoids that requirement, but other filings may be relevant, and sites hosted outside the mainland can load more slowly or be less reliably reachable from inside it.
Services you rely on may be unavailable or slow in the mainland, including some fonts, maps, analytics, video, chat and social login tools. Test from inside the mainland, with local help.
Search. Mainland search works differently from the engines that dominate in Hong Kong. Visibility there is a separate effort.

These points are general and sourced from commercial hosting and consulting sites. Confirm the current position with a qualified provider or adviser.

Platforms, not just websites

WeChat is where many customers talk to businesses, read content and buy. Official accounts and mini programs have their own rules, approvals and, often, entity requirements.
Other platforms and marketplaces serve different audiences. Choose where your customers already are before building your own site.
Messaging channels differ from WhatsApp, which is not the default there. See WhatsApp options for business for the Hong Kong side.

Data, advertising and law

Personal data. Collecting data from mainland customers can bring mainland data-protection rules into play as well as Hong Kong's. Which apply depends on your facts, so take advice. Our PDPO guide covers the Hong Kong side only.
Advertising and content. Claims, comparisons and some categories of product are regulated differently across the border.
Imports, tax and customs. Selling physical goods raises questions that a freight forwarder or adviser should answer.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a separate website for mainland customers?

Often it is sensible: a Simplified Chinese version with its own wording, prices and delivery information. Whether it needs separate hosting is a different question, with legal and speed consequences.

Will my Hong Kong website work in the mainland?

Usually it can be reached, but it may be slower, and some third-party services it uses may not work. Test it from inside the mainland before relying on it.

Can you build for the mainland market?

We can build websites and apps that are designed for mainland visitors and hosted in Hong Kong. We do not provide mainland legal, licensing or platform-registration services, and would work alongside advisers who do.

Planning to reach mainland customers?

Tell us what you sell and where customers are. We will say what to build first and where you need specialist help.

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