China continues to be the largest sender of international students globally, with over 1 million Chinese students studying for a degree abroad in 2023. 

As Chinese students continue to be an essential part of international student populations around the globe, universities are focusing on how to reach and engage this demographic online.

And, of course, if your university website isn’t functioning properly in China, you’re at a disadvantage compared to those that are.

The trouble is, the vast majority of global websites perform poorly in China with both speed and functionality issues due to China’s unique internet environment.

So, how can universities attract more Chinese students with their website?

TL;DR: University websites often face speed and functionality issues in China due to code and infrastructure incompatibilities with China’s internet. Solutions like using near-China CDNs for faster content delivery or leveraging all-in-one tools like Chinafy can drastically improve performance, helping universities attract more Chinese students.

Why universities want to attract Chinese students

Chinese students represent a large and growing segment of international applicants. In the 2022/23 academic year alone, nearly 290,000 Chinese students were studying in the United States, a figure that highlights their importance to global universities.

Several factors contribute to China’s dominance as the number one sender of students abroad:

Competitive advantage: A degree from an overseas university is seen as a major asset in the global job market.

Diverse academic programs: International universities offer a wide range of programs, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, which are in high demand among Chinese students.

Cultural and professional growth: Many students seek foreign experiences to broaden their perspectives and improve personal and professional development.

But the opportunity to connect with this student base can be easily missed if your website fails to load properly in China. A poorly performing website is not just an inconvenience; it’s a lost opportunity to engage a key demographic.

Challenges with China web access for global universities

China’s "Great Firewall" and internet restrictions create unique challenges for universities trying to reach Chinese students. Even if a university's website works well globally, it can be slow or even inaccessible in China, which can deter prospective students from exploring your programs.

When Chinese students search for international universities, the first point of contact is often your website. If the site doesn’t load or functions poorly, they may simply move on to a more accessible alternative.

Specific reasons for these challenges include:

Slow or blocked third-party resources

Many university websites rely on third-party resources that are slow or blocked in China.

Some common examples for university sites include:

Google Maps plugins for campus locations.

University of Toronto's campus map

YouTube embeds for university videos (see example below from the University of Cambridge’s website).

University of Cambridge's home page video

Social media plugins showing activity across platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Lesser-known third-party services blocked by China, which can prevent parts of the site from loading altogether.

Global CDN reach:

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) that universities use to ensure quick access for global students often don’t perform well in China because they lack Points of Presence within the region. This leads to higher latency and packet loss, resulting in a poor browsing experience.

These performance issues are not unique to universities but can be especially damaging in the competitive world of international student recruitment.

How universities can optimize their website for China

The good news is that once you understand the performance issues in China, there are solutions available that can help improve your website without requiring a complete overhaul.

Here are actionable steps universities can take to ensure that their websites perform well in China:

1. Audit your website’s performance in China

It’s a good idea to first understand how your site currently performs in China.

Tools like Chinafy’s Visual Speed Test can help you see exactly how your website loads from within China compared to other global locations.

Comparing www.harvard.edu with Chinafy's Visual Speed Test in London and Beijing

Along with a visual showing you how your site appears in China versus elsewhere in the world, you’ll see metrics including:

Loading time

Page size

Number of third-party domains

There are various ways to test your website’s performance, and it’s important to note that often sites often experience inconsistencies when they haven’t been optimized for China. For example, your site may load fully in one run but not the subsequent runs. For this reason, we recommend drawing an average from a longer period of time to develop a fuller picture of your site’s performance in China. This way, you’re not making changes based on a single data point.

2. Use near-China CDNs

Leverage CDNs with PoPs in or near China to reduce latency for users. Popular near-China CDNs include Tencent Cloud CDN, and Akamai. This helps to improve static content delivery, but keep in mind that CDNs won’t resolve issues with blocked third-party resources.

CDNs help cache static files like images, stylesheets, and scripts closer to users, but they don't resolve dynamic content issues or blocked third-party dependencies (such as YouTube embeds). For a full solution, these elements need to be handled separately.

3. Leverage an all-in-one solution (Chinafy)

Chinafy is designed to optimize university websites* for China without requiring you to overhaul your existing tech stack.

Chinafy addresses key challenges, including:

Third-party resources: Automatically detecting blocked or slow resources and replacing them with China-compatible alternatives.

Infrastructure issues: Enhancing content delivery by adding best-in-class near-China CDNs, even if the site is hosted offshore.

Synchronization: Ensuring the Chinafied version stays synced with your global website, minimizing ongoing maintenance.

For developers, this means seamless integration without the need for ongoing manual intervention.

*This includes learning management systems, microsites for international recruitment initiatives, resources for university partners and more.

4. Localize content for Chinese users

While localization isn’t going to resolve speed and functionality issues, tailoring content for Chinese students will make it user-friendly for this audience. This may involve translation as well as taking into account any cultural relevance or marketing messaging. If you’re working with Chinafy, we have partners who can help you with this side of your site optimization.

Case Study example: How Harvard University could improve website performance in China

Harvard University, one of the most renowned institutions worldwide, faces significant website performance challenges when accessed from China. Using Chinafy’s Global Speed Test, we evaluated the university’s main landing page, www.harvard.edu, and uncovered critical issues.

Pre-Chinafy: The original Harvard site experienced timeouts in key Chinese cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, primarily due to Google scripts and Facebook plugins.

Post-Chinafy*: After applying Chinafy optimizations, the site loaded in just 3.6 seconds in Beijing, compared to previously timing out.

*Chinafy does not currently work with Harvard University. We have taken their landing page, applied one pass of our smart technology, and subsequently performed a series of performance upgrades. This case study is not necessarily endorsed by Harvard.

This case highlights how even globally optimized websites can struggle in China. Chinafy’s optimizations dramatically improve load times and functionality without altering the core website for other regions.

Chinafy's Visual Speed Test

In an increasingly competitive landscape, having a fast-loading and fully functional website can be the difference between a prospective student engaging with your university or moving on to another option.

By addressing common web performance challenges in China and leveraging solutions like Chinafy, universities can ensure their websites perform just as well in China as they do globally.

Ready to optimize your university’s website for China? Start with Chinafy’s Visual Speed Test or reach out to speak to our team about your website.