Sell to China: Website Translation & Languages Guide
Languages, market data and the right technical SEO strategy for selling into China with a WordPress site.
Which languages does the China market expect?
China's web audience is primarily served in Chinese (Simplified). Simplified Chinese is mandatory; hosting, ICP licensing and blocked Western services make a local strategy advisable. Serving these languages on real, indexable URLs is the baseline for ranking in local search results.
What URL & hreflang strategy fits China?
For most sites: keep one domain, serve each language in a subdirectory, and add region-qualified hreflang where offers are country-specific. Example for China: hreflang="zh-cn" on localized pricing pages, plain hreflang="zh" elsewhere.
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="zh-cn" href="https://example.com/zh/" /> <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />
Practical checklist for entering China
- Translate the market-entry set first: homepage, top products, pricing, contact and legal pages in Chinese (Simplified).
- Show prices in CNY where possible — language plus local currency is what makes a site feel domestic.
- Run per-market keyword checks: never assume your English keywords translate into how locals actually search.
- Watch Search Console impressions from this country before and after launch — that delta is your localization ROI.
City guides in China
Frequently asked questions
What languages should my website support for China?
Start with Chinese (Simplified). With roughly 77% of China's ~1.4B people online, the addressable web audience is about 1085.7 million.
Do I need a local domain (.cn ccTLD) for China?
Usually not. Google recommends language subdirectories (yoursite.com/zh/) with hreflang region targeting for most businesses — they inherit your domain authority and cost nothing extra. A ccTLD makes sense only with a dedicated local team and budget.
How do I target China specifically rather than the whole language?
Use region-qualified hreflang (e.g. zh-cn) on pages with country-specific prices or offers, while keeping a generic language version as the default for other speakers of the language.
What does it cost to localize for the China market?
Machine translation at wholesale API rates costs single-digit dollars per language for a typical site. The real localization budget goes to currency display, local payment methods and (for regulated industries) legal review.
Keep exploring
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