Streaming in China isn’t just about going global. It requires a platform built for local regulations, infrastructure, and user behavior. From firewall restrictions and licensing to localization and payments, China demands a completely different OTT approach. Continue reading
Are you looking to cater to the massive Chinese audience as a video streaming platform? Extending your existing platform to China or starting something entirely new, streaming in China is not simply an extension of global OTT operations. Due to several restrictions, launching a video streaming business in China requires a different technical as well as operational approach. China’s video system is integrally regulated, where it is essential even for normal internet service companies to get a license first from the government and follow stricter compliance with regard to data, infrastructure, and payments.
Platforms that try to stream to China using the global infrastructure often face latency, buffering, or, in many cases, outright blocking of the platform. This is where Muvi comes into the equation. Muvi enables global streaming services to successfully launch and sustain their China-based streaming business.
China’s internet is protected by a national-level firewall that strictly controls cross-border data transfers. Therefore, videos streamed from outside of Mainland China often experience:
Standard global CDNs are not optimized to pass through these restrictions. Even the most popular streaming services often face huge restrictions and have trouble with China playback.
All distributed content in China is subject to strict regulations. What reaches the public has to be checked by the relevant authorities. Hence, platforms have to ensure:
Without alignment to these requirements, platforms risk content takedowns, throttling, or full service disruption.
China is a local-first market. This means standard English language content will usually never work unless it is translated into the local languages. Hence, platforms that are looking for OTT business in China must include the following:
The content needs to be local first, but before that, everything around the content should be given a local touch.
China has very strict guidelines on where the data is stored and processed. Many platforms rely on global servers for user data and content management, but routing these interactions overseals can lead to slow response times o,r in many cases, even outright failures. DRM checks may also suffer if they are not optimized for in-country access.
Operating a publicly accessible digital platform in China requires an Internet Content Provider ICP license, issued by Chinese authorities. This is mandatory for hosting websites or delivering online content within mainland China. For foreign companies, obtaining this license directly is complex and often requires a local legal entity and partnerships with approved operators.
Platforms that rely solely on Western payment systems often experience low conversion rates and high drop-off rates at checkout. To monetize effectively, OTT services must integrate region-preferred payment methods and adapt to local billing behaviors.
Muvi is built to cater to video streaming businesses of all sizes and regional expectations. Muvi’s flexible architecture and configuration allows you to easily meet these guidelines and requirements and meet streaming goals in China.
You need to onboard China-ready delivery by leveraging its partnership with licensed, in-country local CDN providers. This enables you to easily upload your content to your desired CDN, and it seamlessly connects it with local Chinese partners for its effective delivery. This further ensures:
Muvi can be plugged into all major global CDNs for effective content delivery.
Muvi, using its years of experience, can help businesses navigate the Chinese regulatory landscape, clearing possible roadblocks and aligning with content publishing regulations and workflows. While Muvi does not offer legal counsel, it removes technical and operational roadblocks that usually tend to derail China expansion in terms of compliance and licenses.
Using Muvi, you can custom-build your website in any language of your choice. Not just that, using Muvi’s Alie AI, all your content can be seamlessly dubbed in multiple local languages, including subtitling. This ensures the platform feels native to the Chinese users.
You need a local payment gateway or a gateway like Stripe that supports you as a merchant account based in the US or any other country but follows local regional norms to accept Chinese payments. Muvi effectively integrates any payment gateway, thus bringing this support naturally into your platform.
Muvi One is one of the better streaming software solutions in the market that caters to all types of video streaming business needs. From setting up eLearning platforms with role based access control for teachers to building the next Netflix, Muvi comes with a range of features that makes it unique to most video business requirements.
Muvi partners with local CDN providers to ensure that the best streaming experience reaches the end user. This enables Muvi to deliver buffer-free video/audio content across the globe. Not just that, it also comes with built-in CDN options to choose from, depending on your business requirements.
Muvi protects the customer data by adhering to the industry’s best practices for security. Latest DRM technologies are deployed to prevent unauthorized access, and with dynamic watermarking, content owners have full control over their content. With the right server-side integration, content is safe no matter where it is being streamed.
The world is going AI, and Muvi One is not behind. Deploying Alie AI, you can manage a lot of backend video tasks such as chaptering, metadata addition, poster creation, subtitling, and more. Not just that, it can also translate your content into multiple languages using AI dubbing, and that is just the beginning.
Who says you just need to earn via a monthly subscription alone? The majority of OTT streaming solutions today are going hybrid in terms of monetization, and Muvi is not behind in this race. Using Muvi One, you can deploy AVOD to your content by bringing in your own ad server. You can also go for a freemium model. If you are planning to host PPV content, Muvi One lets you put specific price tags as well. With Muvi One, earnings are never restricted.
Muvi One empowers businesses to launch a complete OTT ecosystem from a single platform, enabling the creation of fully branded streaming experiences across web, mobile, TV, and connected devices. With Muvi One, you can deploy a fully functional OTT streaming website along with native apps for iOS and Android, and applications for Smart TVs, Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, and Android TV without writing a single line of code.
China represents one of the world’s most powerful digital opportunities, but only for platforms that are built to operate within its unique ecosystem. From infrastructure and compliance to localization and payments, success demands far more than a standard global streaming setup. Muvi bridges this gap by offering a China-ready streaming foundation that combines in-country delivery, regulatory alignment, localized experiences, and enterprise-grade performance. Talk to our sales team to learn more.
Written by: Shivashish
Shivashish works as a content writer at Muvi. He has worked in domains like e-commerce, employee engagement, sports and entertainment. A poet by heart, Shivashish believes in creating quality content that is rich in information and easy to understand.
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