Cloudflare in China: ICP and network requirements

Using Cloudflare in China for mainland delivery needs Enterprise plus a separate China Network subscription, an ICP filing (ICP备案) or ICP licence (ICP许可证) per apex domain, and JD Cloud review. For Cloudflare’s own website, 21YunBox recorded 3 of 6 completed loads from Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) cn-zhangjiakou on 28 August 2026. Customer CDN configurations remain untested here.

Cloudflare makes China Network a separate subscription for Enterprise customers. JD Cloud operates its mainland data centres, and each apex domain needs a valid ICP filing or licence. Source: Cloudflare, China Network overview, 30 April 2026. https://developers.cloudflare.com/china-network/

Documentation checked on 20 October 2026.

Check the China Network status of the actual domain in your account. Ask the account owner to confirm the subscription and approved domains. You can then plan the network switch around the approvals still needed.

Cloudflare in China starts with the domain paperwork

Start with the apex domain: example.com is a root domain; www.example.com is a subdomain. Inventory the domains the launch will use, including any separate brand address. Check the filing against each apex domain.

Cloudflare asks for a valid ICP filing (ICP备案) or ICP licence (ICP许可证) for each apex domain. Confirm which authorisation applies to the site’s activity before making the application. Our foreign-company ICP filing guide explains the distinction and the entity requirements.

Give the filing contact that list before the launch date is set. A regional team may have registered a separate brand address. Confirm that its filing record covers the domain you intend to onboard.

Prepare JD Cloud’s review materials alongside the filing record: company and customer names, domain name, ICP number, a description of the site’s content, and the signed self-attestation letter supplied by the sales team. The site must also display its ICP number in the footer.

JD Cloud reviews domain content before China Network is enabled. After vetting, Cloudflare estimates 24 to 48 hours for first-time zone onboarding. Source: Cloudflare, Get started, 17 April 2026. https://developers.cloudflare.com/china-network/get-started/

Cloudflare’s estimated onboarding window starts after content vetting. Filing approval and content review need their own dates in the project plan, particularly when the filing application hasn’t started yet.

What the Cloudflare website test covers

On 28 August 2026, 21YunBox tested Cloudflare’s own site from a mainland cloud region. This third-party observation has no matching consumer-line result. It supplies no comparison of a customer domain with and without China Network.

21YunBox reports 3 of 6 completed load attempts for Cloudflare’s own website from Alibaba Cloud (阿里云) cn-zhangjiakou on 28 August 2026. Source: 21YunBox, Does Cloudflare Work in China? The China Network & ICP Gate, reviewed 7 October 2026. https://www.21cloudbox.com/support/cloudflare-china.html

A customer hostname stays untested here unless a dated third-party test covers that hostname. For an enquiry form, successful submission and receipt of the message need their own checks.

Cloudflare’s routing documentation also warns that anycast can send a request to a data centre farther away geographically. Routing and peering at the visitor’s internet provider affect the path. Avoid promising a particular serving city based only on the visitor’s location.

Cloudflare says requests can reach data centres other than the geographically closest location; customers cannot pin that selection through zone settings. Source: Cloudflare, Geographic traffic routing, 14 October 2026. https://developers.cloudflare.com/support/troubleshooting/general-troubleshooting/geographic-traffic-routing/

Check the features before changing delivery

Before changing delivery, check your site’s current features against Cloudflare’s China Network availability list. Pay attention to the cache options. Identify the challenge service on your enquiry form, if it has one. Agree an alternative for any unsupported feature before the switch. Regional product support and measured reachability are separate checks.

China Network’s feature list specifies static caching and excludes Tiered Cache and Cache Reserve. It also lists Turnstile as unavailable within mainland China. Source: Cloudflare, Available products and features, 10 June 2026. https://developers.cloudflare.com/china-network/reference/available-products/

For each enquiry form, record the endpoint that accepts the submission and any scripts the visitor must load first. Image hosts belong in the inventory too. The guide to reCAPTCHA failures on China forms covers that particular dependency; changing the page’s CDN doesn’t establish whether a separate form service is usable.

If you already have Enterprise and a valid filing, confirm the domain’s approval and required features with the account team. If the filing hasn’t started, assign it to someone before planning the network switch. Our China hosting service covers the hosting and filing work behind that decision.

Before you book the switch

Can we try China Network before obtaining the filing?

Cloudflare’s published proof-of-concept requirements include a valid ICP number and JD Cloud’s content approval. Prepare those before requesting the trial. Use the sales discussion to agree the trial’s scope and the documents you need for a live proof of concept on the China Network.

Will Cloudflare arrange the filing for us?

Cloudflare says neither it nor JD Cloud is responsible for ICP applications, though it can refer customers to filing partners. Choose who will submit and maintain yours. Keep a copy of the filing record with the domain inventory so a change of agency doesn’t obscure who owns the work.

What happens if the filing is revoked?

JD Cloud may suspend or terminate access to the China service. Cloudflare says it will route the affected domains to data centres outside mainland China. Keep the filing contact current and review any change to the domain or site activity with the team responsible for the filing.

Cloudflare’s FAQ requires filing and content approval for a proof of concept, assigns applications to the customer or its filing partner, and describes offshore rerouting after revocation. Source: Cloudflare, China Network FAQ, 16 April 2026. https://developers.cloudflare.com/china-network/faq/

Bring your domain list and filing status to the call.