When talking about Tier-1 GEOs, we often think about Western Europe, Northern America, and possibly Japan—countries with traditionally strong economies. However, there is no denying that China has one of the strongest economies in the world, being the largest manufacturing hub as of 2025.
Whether China is a T1 country or not is a debatable topic. Besides, we don’t really care about formalities here; rather, we’re focused on whether it is possible to capitalize on the Chinese market, which features over 1 billion users.
And the good news is that with RollerAds, this market is perfectly within your reach. You just need to know how to navigate the tides in order not to summon the wrath of the Asian tiger upon you (or the authorities representing it). But enough poetry, it’s China time!
Facts about China
Before entering the market, it’s important to know and understand the country you’re dealing with. Below, you can find the list of key facts about China that will be helpful in your future campaigns:
- The country’s size—9.388.211 square kilometers (3.624.807 square miles).
- Total population—1.4 billion (as of November 15, 2025), or 17.20% of the world.
- Urbanization—67.55% of the population resides in urban areas.
- Median age—40.1 years.
- Language—Mandarin Chinese.
- Religion—Official is atheism, but Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam, and Protestantism are recognized.
- Largest cities—Shanghai (22.3 million), Beijing (18.9 million), Shenzhen (17.4 million), Guangzhou (16 million), Chengdu (13.5 million), Tianjin (11 million), Wuhan (10.3 million).
- Average income—¥22.053 per month (approximately $3.050).
- Internet—Largest digital community with around 1.123 billion users, but heavily regulated with the Great Firewall.
The Power of Chinese Traffic
As we learned in the previous section, almost the entire country uses the Internet, with daily usage averaging nearly 8 hours. Roughly 78% of the country’s population has subscribed to mobile internet services and uses mobile devices to browse the web, so go mobile-first. One of the reasons for this is Tencent’s WeChat, the super-app that functions as a messenger, social media platform, and payment processor, offering a variety of mini-games. You can book a taxi or order food through it, among other services.
When speaking of verticals, you can only work with whitehat niches, but even then, there are nuances you need to keep in mind. For example, Chinese people love beauty products and online games, especially the mobile ones (Call of Duty: Mobile, Genshin Impact, and CrossFire: Legends, to name a few), but you can’t promote them to minors. Other popular verticals include travel, electronics, and last, but certainly not least, is eCommerce.
Speaking of eCommerce, New Year Outlet and CN New Year Festival are starting soon, and you still have some time to jump on the bandwagon.
TikTok, the app that originated in China (also known here as Douyin), highly popularized the short-form content. The Chinese were among the first to popularize short-form content, so users there have relatively short attention spans. Couple that fact with their love for mobile gaming, and you end up with the necessity to create an interactive, mobile-oriented ad that will instantly grab users’ attention.
By this time, it’s clear that you need to use high-intent ad formats tailored for mobile devices, like Direct Click. If you’re not familiar with RollerAds, this format is one of the top performers in our ad network and delivers excellent results with Chinese traffic.
Join us now and start earning on the market full of potential with the team of professionals.
Tips & Hints from RollerAds’ Experts
Chinese laws impose significant legal responsibilities on online platforms to enforce stricter consent rules and increase overall ad transparency and consumer protection. Here you can find a list of what to avoid and keep in mind when running ad campaigns in the Chinese market.
- Scope and definition: The measures apply to commercial advertising activities conducted through websites, apps, APIs, and other online media within China.
- Enhanced liability for ad publishers:
- Primary responsibility. Internet platform operators who publish ads are legally defined as “ad publishers” and bear primary responsibility for content review.
- Content Review. They must establish robust systems to review and verify the identities of advertisers and the legality of ad content before publication.
- Record-Keeping. Records of reviewed ads must be kept for at least three years.
- Transparency and identification:
- Ads must be clearly identifiable as such and not disguised as user reviews or news content.
- Platforms must provide clear mechanisms for users to close ads; pop-up ads must include a visible and operable close button.
- Targeted advertising & user consent:
- Targeted advertising based on user profiling requires the user’s prior consent.
- Using sensitive personal information (e.g., biometrics, medical health, financial status) for targeted ads is strictly prohibited.
- Prohibited content. The rules explicitly ban ads for:
- Products or services that are illegal.
- Treatments for life-threatening diseases like cancer or mental illness.
- Academic degree or vocational education programs that are not officially accredited.
- Over-the-counter medications (with specific exceptions under future regulations).
- Crackdown on “Click Farming” (Fake Traffic): The creation and use of fake clicks, impressions, or user interactions to defraud advertisers is explicitly prohibited.
- Smart device advertising: For ads displayed on smart home devices, smart vehicles, and other IoT devices, the on/off switch must be clearly marked and easy for users to access and operate.
- Live-streaming eCommerce: If a live stream is solely for promoting a product/service, it must be clearly marked as an “ad.” The streamer, product/service provider, and platform all share legal responsibility as advertisers, endorsers, and publishers, respectively.
Why You Should Buy Chinese Traffic From RollerAds
When it comes to advertising in China, the situation here is radically different from what we are used to in the West. Because of the strict Internet regulations, almost all Western platforms are blocked in Mainland China. If you want to enter the country’s market, instead of Google AdSense, Facebook/Instagram Ads, and other familiar platforms, you have to rely on local alternatives. Chinese ad networks are open to foreign advertisers and companies, but you have to comply with numerous laws, regulations, and norms, which can be tiresome to deal with on your own. However, there’s another option—RollerAds.
If you haven’t heard of us before, RollerAds is an advertising network with a high click-through rate (CTR), an in-house anti-fraud system, flexible targeting options, and a roster of smart bidding models that help you test traffic before launching a campaign.
Besides those advantages, the ad network offers its customers a global reach, which means that while most of the major Western platforms can’t access certain parts of the world, RollerAds gives you the opportunity to enter territories full of untapped monetization potential, like the Chinese market.
On top of that, RollerAds has mastered the Direct Click ad format, which delivers especially strong results in the Chinese market.
And finally, our support team and account managers are just a message away to assist you with any issues. Due to the country’s regulations, the Chinese digital market is hard to conquer, but with RollerAds, you’ll always have an experienced partner by your side who will be here to help you set up and optimize your campaigns, so you’ll surely meet your goals.
In Conclusion
The Chinese market is often dismissed due to the Great Firewall and strict laws, but when you know what you’re doing and how to approach users, the results might pleasantly surprise you. There aren’t that many key points to consider and laws to respect, so… there’s no reason to skip China and its traffic.
If you want to try out something different, but are afraid that your ads won’t perform well in a new region, partner up with RollerAds—your ticket to success in the Chinese digital market. And in case you prefer to discuss business tête-à-tête, you can join us soon at AW Asia in Bangkok.
