Chinese internet identity

 

While your Chinese online identity offers can give you a significant advantage by themselves, your good management greatly helps them succeed.

You must decide whether to use your international identity or create an online Chinese identity.

The simplest solution is to use your existing business/brand online identity.

This will work;

• Your trademark(s), brand in this case, is available in China. i.e., A Chinese / international business has not already registered your trademark in China
• Your trademarks, i.e., brand, product names, etc, are known in the international / Chinese market.
• Appropriate domain, social media, etc, names are available.
• Your brand/product name does not have an appropriate meaning/translation in spoken or written Chinese. For example, Google had this problem in China. The English pronouncement of Google in Chinese means “rice framer”.

Chinese trademark registration is key to your success. You must ensure that your international brand and Chinese identity are registered in China.  

If you are having problems in any of these areas above, or you wish to create a new identity for the Chinese market, here are a few points for your consideration;  

Brand not known in China

Internet search functions in search engines, social media, and e-mails are complex, but the data they process is straightforward. A search will only compare your words with those in the search. If you use a brand name that is not known in China, then the brand name will not be entered in a search.

The way around this is to connect your brand name to words that are searched for, e.g.,

Baby food by Access to China - English only

婴儿食品 Access to China - keeping your brand in English and the rest in China

Keeping the brand in your local language is recommended, provided it does not miss leading and is pronounceable in Chinese. An international company/product is expected to have an overseas name.

Using a Chinese name may confuse the local Chinese market, making local people think you are selling “copy” products. When using a Chinese name, make sure you reference our international credentials.

The brand is known in China

This is a great starting point if you own your brand in China.

Ensure your brand is registered as a Chinese trademark in your company name. Having your trademarks registered directly in China gives you far better protection; otherwise, you must rely on international copyright protection, which is hard to enforce in China.

Once you have legal control over your trademarks in China, you can establish your business identity online.

Under Chinese law, you can stop using your trademarks, brand names, logos, etc., but this must be done proactively.

Need a new Brand for the Chinese market

This is often the case if you have lost control of your brand in China.

An overseas name is always appropriate if you export an overseas brand/product to China.

If you need to use a Chinese name, two written languages are available: Madeiran and Pingyin. Most strong internet identities use Pinyin, e.g., Baidu, Taobao, Shenma, and Dangdang.

Another Chinese group with strong internet identities uses well-known words/sayings in England: TMall, JD Buy, VIP, and WeChat.

The other important thing is that Chinese words end in an upward tone. All the above Chinese names have a downward followed by an upward tone. Words that follow this format are positive.

Chinese domains names

When typing a domain name into a browser, Chinese people use Pingyin or QR code (scanned on a mobile). Therefore, a simple overseas / Chinese name that can be remembered is preferable. The above examples have these tones: Baidu, Taobao, Shenma, and Dangdang.

Domain names with many words become more burdensome to spell correctly—a maximum of two words is recommended.

Do not use hyphens and dashes. They can confuse. The Chinese language does use these characters.

Having a Chinese name spelt in Chinese characters is not usually used by Chinese people in browsers. However, having a secondary domain name in Chinese characters can help search engine SEO.

Chinese social media

Your company identity on Chinese social media dramatically helps me determine the account name's meaning.

The general rule we have found through testing is that many social media searches are first performed on the account name and then on its contents; e.g., a travel business without the word "travel" in Chinese in the account name will not come back in the results of a social media search.

Each social media search tool works differently. Please read up, take advice, and test before creating your business social media accounts. Often, changing the name once they have been made is not simple.

More information available

Please look at the following cover in more detail the points raised above;

 

Last modified: Version 3.2 - 12 February 2025