How Long a China Website Takes

How long does it take to build a website in China? With a mainland company already registered, we plan fourteen weeks from kickoff to launch. Every project runs on three clocks: the entity, the ICP filing and the build. The filing can’t start until the entity exists, and the site can’t open until the filing clears, so those two run one after the other. Start the filing in week one and it finishes inside the build. Leave it until the design is approved, though, and its three to six weeks get added to the end of the plan. That’s where most plans lose a month. A focused brand site can be live in eight to twelve weeks.

Every source below was checked on 17 October 2026.

The three clocks, and which ones overlap

Most project plans from outside China show one line: design, build, launch. A mainland site has three, and the order between them sets the date.

The entity comes first because the filing is made in its name. Then the filing, since the server won’t serve the site until it clears. The build can run beside both, on a staging copy away from the mainland server.

So the build is rarely the long pole.

On a project with an entity, a filing started in week one finishes while the developers are still working. Without one, the entity and the filing stack end to end, and together they usually outlast the build.

The entity clock: nothing files without a mainland company

The filing has to be made by a company registered in the mainland or by a mainland resident. A foreign parent can’t file for its own site from abroad.

Alibaba Cloud international accounts do not support ICP filing. The filing entity must be an enterprise registered in the Chinese mainland or a Chinese mainland resident. Source: Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) help centre, ICP filing for enterprises outside the Chinese mainland, last updated 20 August 2026. https://help.aliyun.com/en/icp-filing/basic-icp-service/product-overview/icp-filing-application-for-enterprises-outside-the-chinese-mainland

Once the file is complete, the registration itself is quick.

A registration authority registers a complete application on the spot, or within 3 working days when it can’t, with a further 3 working days for complex cases. Source: State Council Order 746, Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Market Entities (市场主体登记管理条例), article 19, 27 July 2021, in force 1 March 2022. https://www.shanghai.gov.cn/sczr1/20230508/3d4fe69e2cc04091a516be3483ef6357.html

The weeks go into getting the file complete. The parent company’s documents have to be certified at home first. Since China joined the Apostille Convention, that means one stamp in the issuing country, with no trip through a Chinese consulate.

From 7 November 2023, public documents from other contracting states need only that state’s apostille to be used in mainland China, with no consular legalisation. Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China (外交部), announcement of 23 October 2023. https://www.mfa.gov.cn/wjbxw_new/202310/t20231023_11165858.shtml

We don’t put a number on this clock, because your lawyers and your home registry set it. Start it before you brief a web agency, since everything else waits on the business licence. Tencent Cloud (腾讯云) requires a company site’s content to fall within the business scope on its licence, so write the scope with the site in mind.

The ICP filing: three to six weeks, and what stalls it

The filing runs in two stages: the hosting provider’s check, then the provincial Communications Administration (省级通信管理局).

Alibaba Cloud’s initial review takes 1 to 2 working days. The provincial review generally takes 1 to 20 working days. The public security filing (公安备案) must be completed within 30 days of the site opening. Source: Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) help centre, ICP filing process overview, last updated 26 August 2026. https://help.aliyun.com/zh/icp-filing/basic-icp-service/user-guide/icp-filing-application-overview

The provincial Communications Administration files a complete application and issues its number within 20 working days. Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工信部), Measures for the Filing of Non-commercial Internet Information Services (非经营性互联网信息服务备案管理办法), article 12, as amended 18 January 2024. https://www.miit.gov.cn/gyhxxhb/jgsj/cyzcyfgs/bmgz/xxtxl/art/2024/art_84a0cfa0ebd049bbbe751dca9a008e56.html

On paper that’s four weeks at most. We plan three to six, because the paperwork before submission takes time and applications come back for corrections. The things that send one back are mostly small.

The filing itself is free. The server behind it isn’t, and you pay for it from the week you file, well before the site opens.

ICP filing is free of charge, but it requires a cloud server that supports filing, and buying that server costs money. Source: Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) help centre, ICP filing FAQ for different scenarios, last updated 23 April 2026. https://help.aliyun.com/zh/icp-filing/basic-icp-service/product-overview/faq-about-icp-filing-applications-in-different-scenarios

The last row of the table catches teams who want a soft launch.

During a new filing, the site cannot be accessed. It must be closed or unreachable by its public domain or IP, or it may fail the regulator’s check and be rejected. Source: Tencent Cloud (腾讯云) documentation, ICP filing, last updated 21 August 2026. https://cloud.tencent.com/document/product/243/19650

A site that charges users for information or online services needs the ICP licence (ICP许可证) as well, and that clock is longer.

The authority completes its review within 60 days of accepting the application. Source: Shanghai Communications Administration (上海市通信管理局), value-added telecoms service guide, 1 June 2015. https://shca.miit.gov.cn/bsfw/bszn/dxsc/blcx/art/2020/art_7426922df3754a189aaf4278ff0c7b1d.html

We plan twelve to eighteen weeks for the licence. That figure is ours; the regulator publishes only the 60 days, counted from acceptance. Where an online shop falls is a question for a licensed adviser.

The build: six to twelve weeks, alongside the filing

Our build plans run six weeks for a focused brand site and twelve for a larger one with integrations and a full Chinese content set, whether it’s built on WordPress or Astro. None of it needs the filing number. The developers work on a staging copy off the mainland server, and the Chinese copy is written there too.

What the build does need, from week one, is a dependency plan. Every call to a host the Great Firewall blocks or slows has to come out, and that list decides how the theme gets built. Our guide to moving WordPress into China walks through that audit for an existing site.

The Chinese copy is the line that slips. A Chinese writer takes longer than a translator, and can’t start until the source copy is signed off.

Baidu indexing: two to four weeks after launch

Then there’s the wait after launch. Baidu (百度) can’t index a site that isn’t open, so its clock starts on the day the domain opens. Our planning allows two to four weeks before the first pages show up. Baidu publishes no timetable of its own.

Baidu took its fast inclusion (快速收录) tool offline on 26 April 2024 and replaced it with fast crawl (快速抓取), recalling the old quotas. Source: Baidu Search Resource Platform (百度搜索资源平台), notice of 24 April 2024. https://ziyuan.baidu.com/wiki/3546

Fast crawl is granted automatically to the platform’s VIP partners. Other sites can earn it through platform activities. Submitted pages are crawled first, with no guarantee they are indexed. Source: Baidu Search Resource Platform, fast crawl guide, 19 April 2024. https://ziyuan.baidu.com/college/articleinfo?id=3549

A new site isn’t a VIP partner, so it submits through the standard tools. Verify the site in the Search Resource Platform on launch day, and finish the Baidu account’s real-name check before that.

Baidu shut sitemap submission for sites in accounts without real-name verification, and for low-quality sites, and cut daily API push quotas. Source: Baidu Search Resource Platform, notice of 22 September 2023. https://ziyuan.baidu.com/wiki/3531

How long it takes to build a website in China, week by week

This is the table the Shanghai team plans from, for a new site with the entity already registered.

Without an entity, add the entity clock in front of week 1. Scoping and design can start. The server purchase waits for the business licence, and so does everything after it.

What shortens the timeline, and what doesn’t

Four things save weeks. File in week one, against a server bought the same week. Put the domain in the entity’s name at a mainland registrar before anything else (Alibaba checks the holder’s name down to the full-width brackets), because a corrected record takes days to sync. Settle the site’s Chinese name early, since the provider checks it against its rules. And keep whoever is named on the filing reachable by phone for the whole review.

The rest is fixed. The provincial review runs on the regulator’s clock, and a regulated industry adds its pre-approval in front of the filing. The site stays dark during a first filing, so there’s no soft launch on the mainland server and no coming-soon page on the domain. And Baidu’s fast lane went to VIP partners in 2024.

Our web agency in China page sets out how we scope a focused brand site, and our China website brief checklist covers what to ask a vendor about filing weeks and budget lines before you sign.

Frequently asked

How long does it take to build a website in China?

With a mainland entity in place, we plan fourteen weeks from kickoff to launch, and eight to twelve for a focused brand site. The build takes six to twelve weeks and the ICP filing three to six, running at the same time. By our planning, Baidu then needs two to four weeks to index the first pages.

How long does ICP filing take?

Alibaba Cloud publishes 1 to 2 working days for its own check and generally 1 to 20 working days for the provincial review. We plan three to six weeks, because documents take time and applications come back. A site that charges users also needs the ICP licence, and we plan twelve to eighteen weeks for it.

Can we build the site while the filing is reviewed?

Yes, and you should. The developers and the Chinese writer work on a test site away from the mainland server. Only the deploy waits: the domain stays dark until the filing number is issued, then the site goes onto the mainland server with the number in its footer.

Can we launch outside China while the filing runs?

Only on a different domain. Tencent Cloud’s rule is that the site must be closed or unreachable by its domain or IP during a first filing. Your global site on its own domain can stay up, and the China domain opens when the number is issued.

Can we skip the filing by hosting in Hong Kong?

You can. Alibaba Cloud’s own FAQ says a domain pointed at a server outside the mainland, Hong Kong included, needs no ICP filing. It still lists the public security filing. The price is speed, because every request then crosses the Great Firewall from outside.