When businesses are considering a hosting provider, they often prioritize factors like speed, reliability, and global reach.

However, delivering website content to China presents unique challenges that Siteground, like many other hosting providers, struggles to address.

TL;DR: SiteGround is a globally recognized web hosting provider but struggles in China due to no local data centers or Points of Presence (PoPs) and blocked third-party resources, leading to slow load times and broken content. Alternative ways to address web performance for visitors in China include hosting inside China, or opting for a bolt-on solution like Chinafy which can be used onshore or offshore.

In this blog we'll explore how Siteground performs in China, why it encounters issues, and what alternatives are available for businesses that need fast and reliable website performance in China.

What is SiteGround?

SiteGround is a globally recognized web hosting provider that hosts over 3 million domains worldwide, offering services like shared hosting, cloud hosting, and more, primarily through Google Cloud infrastructure.

SiteGround has data centers in multiple locations, including the United States, Europe, Australia, and Singapore. It also offers a global CDN network with over 170 edge network locations, but it does not maintain direct hosting infrastructure or Points of Presence (POPs) in mainland China.

As a result, websites relying solely on SiteGround’s infrastructure face some performance issues when accessed from within China.

Does Siteground work in China?

Businesses with a global digital presence shouldn’t have to compromise their user experience for visitors accessing their website from China.

Unfortunately, websites that use Siteground often face performance issues in China including:

High latency

Slow load times

Inaccessible content

Here’s an example of a site taken from a list of “Best Siteground Websites of 2025” that we submitted to our Visual Speed Test.

What the test shows is that while The New York Review of Books website loads visually in around 3 seconds in California, the site is visually broken even at 15.4 seconds in Beijing.

For the end user, waiting any more than 3 seconds for a site to load can feel painfully slow. In fact, the average web user perceives load times as being 15% slower than they actually are, according to SpeedCurve.

Source: Chinafy Visual Speed Test

Why Siteground faces performance issues in China

SiteGround’s performance issues in China primarily stem from two factors:

1. No data centers or PoPs inside China

SiteGround doesn’t currently operate data centers points of presence (POPs) within China.

Instead, it uses nearby locations like Japan (CDN) or Singapore (data center and CDN) to deliver content. According to their website, SiteGround has fourteen points of infrastructure – data centers, CDNs and CDN edge locations in Asia.

Source: SiteGround

While this helps reduce latency to some extent, it doesn’t provide the same speed and reliability as having servers directly within China’s mainland. While CDNs are responsible for optimising the delivery of primary resources on a website - they inherently do not touch third party resources (more on this below) even if these servers are inside of China, resulting in slower load times for users

2. Blocked or slow third-party resources

Websites using SiteGround – or any hosting provider – often rely on third-party resources, such as Google APIs, YouTube, Vimeo, and other platforms that are blocked or restricted in China.

SiteGround does not offer China compatibility solutions to replace or remove resources that are blocked or inaccessible from China.

So, when a website relies on these services and is hosted on SiteGround, users in China may encounter broken elements or resources that simply don’t load, thereby impacting the user experience.

Given these challenges, let’s explore viable alternatives for hosting in China.

Alternatives to SiteGround in China

When you’re considering alternatives to SiteGround for users of your website in China, it’s good to understand that, while local hosting providers and CDNs with PoPs inside China can reduce latency, they only address part of the problem. Because the servers are within mainland China, there are regulatory prerequisites to using them, including:

Obtaining an ICP filing or license

Establishing a local entity or partnering with a local provider

Registering your website with the Public Security Bureau (PSB)

Remaining compliant with China’s content regulations, such as data localization.

The decision to host your website within China or use a China CDN is an organization-level decision. Irrespectively, it’s important to remember that it is not a silver bullet to a fast-performing website, as third-party resources can remain an issue.

Hosting providers in China

If you can't read Chinese, then there are primarily two hosting providers that have English options available :

1. Alibaba Cloud: the leading cloud service provider in China, offering infrastructure with multiple data centers across mainland China (e.g., Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou).

2. Tencent Cloud: Another major Chinese cloud provider, offering data centers in mainland China (e.g., Guangzhou, Shanghai). More limited English support.

Other hosting providers typically require a native mandarin speaker/reader. Alibaba and Tencent are both friendly-enough for any offshore developer, where you can acquire your SSL, set up a CDN and they help you acquire and/or transfer the ICP filing/licence although the process can take 1-3 months.

Whether your site is hosted offshore or onshore, Chinafy can be bolted onto your existing technical stack to achieve faster loading times, and more functional website experience.

The Chinafy solution: optimizing your website performance

For businesses already using SiteGround or global CDNs, switching entirely to China-specific hosting may not be feasible or cost-effective.

That’s where Chinafy comes in.

Chinafy vs. CDN

Chinafy offers a unique solution that optimizes websites for performance in China, without requiring a complete infrastructure overhaul. Businesses can continue using SiteGround for their global users while ensuring their website performs optimally for users in China through Chinafy’s bolt-on solution whether their website is hosted onshore or offshore.

How Chinafy makes your SiteGround website load fast and fully in China:

Generates a version of your website for China visitors without affecting your current SiteGround site.

Combines both in-person and platform-level features to detect and replace blocked or slow resources that cause loading delays.

Speeds up content delivery with a China-friendly CDN.

Typically, it takes only a couple of weeks to implement with minimal IT involvement. Variability will depend on the complexity of the site.

Chinafy is also compatible with most, if not all CMS platforms that you are currently using as our technology sits as a layer above your website.

Note: Chinafy does not work with any sites that are officially blocked by the Chinese government.

Source: Chinafy

While SiteGround is a globally trusted hosting provider, its lack of local infrastructure in mainland China and inability to address blocked third-party resources results in suboptimal performance for users in the region. Businesses aiming to deliver fast, reliable, and fully functional websites to Chinese audiences may need to explore alternatives like Alibaba Cloud or Tencent Cloud for in-country hosting or consider a solution like Chinafy to optimize performance without abandoning their existing setup.

Learn more about Chinafy today.