Jul 13 2008
Is the Internet in China Still Young and Waiting for Development?
I spent the past few days travelling with a Chinese girl who is pretty interested in the internet and SEO stuff. She’s really interested in what I’m doing and spent a lot of time asking me questions about my websites.
It was really interesring for me to be able to get a glimpse into the world of the internet in China. She was amazed that people buy so many things online, especially things like insurance. She said her boyfriend had had an idea to set up a car rental website because, at the moment, nothing like this exists in China. She also told me that most websites are very commercial and that information sites with advertising don’t really seem to exist.
She seemed pretty switched on about the internet so I think she knows what she’s talking about. It’s an exciting thing to think that the Chinese internet market might not be at the same stage as the Western world. If China is a bit behind, think of all of the opportunities there must be out there!
It’s exciting stuff but if, in fact, the net in China still has lots of room for development, I think gtting on board soon will make a lot of people a lot of money. Does anyone know anything about the state of the internet in China? Are there still opportunities here that us web marketers could only dream of having in the West?
I think it’s worth investigating so any of you out there with internet savvy Chinese friends might want to start looking for partners.
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I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go. 
Starting an internet business in China you have to deal with all of the rules and regulations that you would face running any business here. Dealing with IP issues, Chinese partners, laws that can change at a moment’s notice, corruption etc. Chinalawblog.com is worth checking out.
To much hassle IMO.
I would imagine that strict government controls would make it very hard for a foreigner to profit from the Chinese online market.
Having said that it is possible to register .cn domains but I wonder if Chinese people use their own characters?
I think “the internet” in China has a long way to go. I’m not referring to the technology, or the censorship, I just think that the people have to start to use and trust it more. While I was in Beijing I went on an office tour of a new online sporting goods retailer (qudong365), and I was surprised to find out that they don’t process credit cards online, all sales are COD. I’ve been told that customers don’t feel safe sharing using their credit cards online.
If you’re serious about possibly getting a chinese partner and setting up some websites, we have a program, eToro, that is available in China.
We have creatives, landing pages and language support…..and we have 1-pay (paypalish service available in China) for payouts.
Shoot me a mail if interested in discussing further.
The language issue has always stood in the way for me.. are you finding it possible at all to work with english only? I know you’re working on learning Mandarin, but how’s the creation of a site in China for english-only going?
I´ve had the same thought about China. Bar the language it could be like taking a trip back in time. Imagine what you could do if you arrived in 1980 and had all your web savy from today!
My first thought was that your new friend is checking you out for the government but then I tend to be paranoid, still with the games and all coming up make sure you be a good communist
Mike just because your site is in Chinese and is marketing towards Chinese people doesn’t mean it needs to be operating in China. Or does it? I would have thought it woul dbe possible to set something up outside of the country but I guess messing around with Chinese Paypal, finding Chinese advertisers, using Chinese affiliates etc. might complicate things.
WN they use our alphabet to type in URLs but searches are done mainly in Chinese characters in both Google and Baidu, the more popular Chinese search engine.
Ya John, finding a site to buy plane and train tickets online without first having to jump through hoops is pretty difficult.
Thanks Dave but I’m not serious about it really… just throwing ideas around.
Suz I wouldn’t use English to market to a Chinese audience in China and I packed in the idea of learning Mandarin a while ago, sadly. I am using English for my Beijing site but that target market is English speakers. If I were serious about building sites for the Chinese market I’d be on the lookout for a partner here.
WJM I agree with the trip back in time thing, that’s what makes it exciting, I think. I wouldn’t say they’re 20 years behind, maybe 5. But even to be able to rank for some high earning keywords on Baidu would be worth some money down the road, even if only to sell to the sites to Chinese businesses later.