(Source: https://pltfrm.com.cn)
Introduction
China doesn’t have a digital ecosystem — it has several interconnected galaxies that operate by their own rules. Here are the five galaxies that matter most in 2025 and exactly how overseas brands should position themselves inside each one.
- The Alibaba Galaxy
1.1 Tmall / Taobao / Alipay / Cainiao Still the largest e-commerce constellation, now deeply integrated with content via Taote and idle-moment discovery. Overseas brands need flagship presence on Tmall Global while running low-price testing on Taobao to capture the full consumer journey.
1.2 Idle-Moment and Livestream Commerce Alibaba’s Youku, Xianyu, and Taote feed users content and deals when they are most receptive. Use SaaS content distribution tools to push short videos and flash deals across the entire galaxy automatically.
- The ByteDance Galaxy (Douyin Ecosystem) 2.1 Douyin → Toutiao → Xigua Video → Douyin Shop A single piece of content can travel from 15-second hook to full e-commerce purchase without leaving the family. Deploy SaaS creative factories that generate hundreds of variations daily to feed the algorithm beast.
2.2 Douyin Local Life and Group Buying New battleground for beauty, dining, and wellness brands. Integrate with SaaS local services platforms to offer group-buy deals and instant booking inside Douyin.
- The Tencent Galaxy
3.1 WeChat as the Universal Remote Control Video Accounts, Channels, Mini Programs, and payment form the most powerful private domain on earth. Brands that treat WeChat as their China headquarters reduce dependency on any single public platform by 70%+.
3.2 QQ, WeCom, and Tencent Advertising Still relevant for Gen Z and B2B use cases. Use unified SaaS Tencent advertising suites to run cross-product campaigns with single-login efficiency.
- The Emerging Contenders
4.1 Xiaohongshu – The Premium Lifestyle Gatekeeper Now mandatory for any brand targeting women aged 18–40. Success requires genuine creator communities, not paid ads. Automate gifting and tracking with dedicated Xiaohongshu SaaS tools.
4.2 Bilibili and Dewu – Subculture and Trend-Driven Bilibili for anime, gaming, and tech; Dewu (Poizon) for streetwear and collectibles. Each has its own language and culture — use SaaS community management platforms to speak natively.
- The Infrastructure Layer
5.1 Cloud and CDN Providers Tencent Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and Huawei Cloud dominate. Host assets in mainland China for speed and compliance using multi-CDN SaaS solutions that auto-switch based on user location.
5.2 Identity and Verification Stack Real-name authentication, facial recognition, and credit systems underpin everything. Integrate once via SaaS middleware and be compliant across every platform instantly.
Case Study: A Canadian Functional Food Brand’s Galaxy Strategy
Launching in 2024, they placed Tmall Global as their public storefront, built a 250,000-member WeChat private domain as HQ, used Douyin for discovery, Xiaohongshu for trust, and Bilibili for Gen Z. Result: 360-degree coverage, RMB 220 million first-year revenue, and zero reliance on any single platform.
Conclusion
There is no “one app to rule them all” in China — winning means deliberate presence across multiple galaxies while owning your private traffic core.
PLTFRM is an international brand consulting agency that works with companies such as Red, TikTok, Tmall, Baidu, and other well-known Chinese internet e-commerce platforms. We have been working with Chile Cherries for many years, reaching Chinese consumers in depth through different platforms and realizing that Chile Cherries’ exports in China account for 97% of the total exports in Asia. Contact us, and we will help you find the best China e-commerce platform for you. Search PLTFRM for a free consultation! info@pltfrm.cn
