Accessing foreign websites in China may soon get a lot less terrible

When accessing foreign websites on the Chinese internet, things quickly go from bad to worse. Even sites that aren’t blocked by the nation’s extravagant censorship apparatus are still painfully slow, which not only ruins the experience for users, but also discourages foreign firms from coming into the country.

But a new partnership between Chinese internet juggernaut Baidu and US internet services company CloudFlare aims to improve internet access on the Mainland.

The obvious solution for foreign firms seeking to improve speed and access for their Chinese users is to host their website in the Chinese Mainland – but that’s easier said than done. Layers of complex internet restrictions, censorship, and questionable information security have long made hosting a foreign site in China a risky proposition.

CloudFlare and Baidu’s new partnership will hopefully see some of those hurdles diminish. By transferring CloudFlare’s content delivery systems, internet optimization services, and security software to Baidu’s extensive network throughout China, the companies aim to make the country more hospitable to foreign firms.

How it works

In short, the plan would enable Chinese websites to function better overseas by using CloudFlare’s internet services abroad, and would enable foreign websites to load faster in China, by carrying the traffic on Baidu’s domestic network.

The joint service, known as Yunjiasu, first started in late 2014, but the partnership was only formally announced this week. Within China, the service will be operated primarily by Baidu, but both companies will share in the revenue, according to the New York Times.

According to a statement released by CloudFlare, some websites have already seen six-fold increases in speed on the mainland, leading to a boost in traffic and availability for Chinese users.

The statement mentions several Western brands – American Apparel, Gilt Groupe, and TechCrunch – as hopping aboard CloudFlare’s Baidu-backed services in an attempt to grow their customer base within China.

CloudFlare’s services have currently been rolled out in 17 hubs in China – including cities like Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Tianjin. Combined with CloudFlare’s 45 other global hubs, the company’s network touches much of the globe.

Don’t expect to tweet about it

The Facebook-trampling elephant in the room, of course, is censorship. While this new partnership may open the doors a bit for foreign websites in China, it does not mean that the nation’s internet regulations for content are getting less strict.

“Baidu operates all services within China, and CloudFlare outside of China, in accordance with all local laws and regulations,” reads CloudFlare’s statement.

In other words, Chinese users’ access to clothing brands and some foreign sites could see a marked improvement thanks to this deal – but don’t expect to see Facebook or Twitter hop on board anytime soon.