Gogetop Marketing, a London-based agency specialising in cross-border digital marketing between China and international markets, has released a new briefing aimed at helping overseas brands understand the complexities of China’s domestic social media environment.
The report, titled Why China’s Social Media Ecosystem Demands a Different Strategy from Global Brands, examines why companies accustomed to Western digital platforms frequently encounter operational, regulatory and compliance challenges when attempting to establish a presence across China’s major social networks.
The briefing arrives as China’s online market continues to expand rapidly. According to DataReportal, the country had around 1.28 billion active social media user identities in October 2025. Meanwhile, figures reported by Chinese state media indicate that the number of internet users in the country reached approximately 1.125 billion by the end of 2025.
Gogetop Marketing’s analysis suggests that many international organisations underestimate the structural differences between China’s social media platforms and those commonly used in Western markets. Rather than relying on one dominant network, China’s digital environment includes multiple specialised platforms covering messaging, short-form video, social discovery, community interaction, long-form publishing and integrated e-commerce. Each operates with its own rules around verification, content moderation and user engagement.
Recent figures highlight the scale of these platforms. Tencent reported that Weixin and WeChat together exceeded 1.3 billion monthly active users in March 2024. Weibo recorded 591 million monthly active users and 261 million daily active users in March 2025.
Bilibili reported 366 million monthly active users and 113 million daily active users in the fourth quarter of 2025. Kuaishou reported average monthly active users of 731.1 million and average daily active users of 416.2 million in the third quarter of the same year.
Industry estimates suggest that Xiaohongshu, internationally known as RedNote, currently has around 300 million monthly active users.
“International brands often assume they can approach China’s platforms in the same way they approach Western social media,” said Micky Liu of Gogetop Marketing. “In reality, account verification, compliance processes, content moderation and platform functionality can vary significantly across China’s domestic ecosystem. A successful strategy needs to be designed around how these platforms actually operate.”
According to the briefing, one of the most common planning errors made by international companies is approaching China’s social media landscape purely as a localisation task. Gogetop Marketing argues that decisions relating to platform choice, account structure, documentation requirements, content production processes and commercial objectives should be integrated much earlier into the planning process.
The agency says the briefing is designed to support founders, marketing leaders and communications teams evaluating an early-stage entry into China’s market. It includes an overview of major domestic platforms along with a practical framework addressing platform selection, account creation considerations, verification requirements, content planning and compliance-focused execution.
“China social media is not just a translation task or a channel adaptation exercise,” Liu added. “It is an ecosystem with its own logic, its own platform hierarchies and its own operational requirements. This briefing is designed to help decision-makers understand that before they commit budget, timelines and internal resources.”
