China has long been established as the world’s largest market for international student recruitment. With a growing middle class and increasing openness to Westernized education, the number of students studying abroad has increased every year, with the latest data from the Chinese Ministry of Education showing an incredible 459,800 students entering programs abroad in 2014 alone.
Due to the Chinese Communist Party maintaining control over all social media companies in China, many colleges and universities have done exceptional work in social media marketing in China, offering Chinese versions of their websites, offering admissions services to native speakers, and establishing educational partnerships with Chinese institutions.
However, one area that Western schools have struggled to grasp is social media marketing. Implementing The Golden Shield Project—nicknamed “The Great Firewall of China”—has meant that the largest global social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, have all been banned since 2009. In their place, many Chinese-based sites have thrived, creating a radically different and unfamiliar social media landscape for recruiters to navigate.
According to Statista, China is home to the world’s largest social media market, featuring highly engaged, mobile-savvy users. Its market structure differs significantly from that of other countries.
In this blog, we explore some of the most popular and relevant Chinese social media platforms for student recruitment to help you better understand what’s required to build your social media presence in this important market successfully.
Social Media Marketing in China Basics – A Primer for Schools
The first thing recruiters will notice about the Chinese social media landscape is how quickly it changes. While the larger Western sites have established a somewhat stable global market share, the Chinese market is in a comparatively earlier stage in its development and is much more competitive. The popularity of social networks tends to fluctuate wildly, with new platforms emerging and gaining users from other sites all the time. As a result, recruiters need to monitor developments to keep their social media presence relevant closely.
In addition, there are several important differences in leveraging Chinese social platforms for university recruitment, and any school launching an international student recruitment campaign needs to ensure that it develops its pages to meet its audience’s expectations. For example, while QR codes died quickly in the Western market, they are essential in China, and scanning them is the preferred method social media users use to add connections.
Another important difference is the range of functionality users expect from social media. While Western sites tend to be built primarily around one function, such as Instagram’s photo sharing, Chinese platforms typically offer various services, often incorporating games, online shopping, and even financial services. Chinese social media is heavily tailored toward the mobile experience, as 61% of users access social media on their mobiles.
Lastly, schools must inevitably consider censorship when targeting prospects in China. While some aspects of Chinese internet policy have become more relaxed recently, schools must be mindful of posting controversial content. The social media sites that have thrived in the country have cooperated with the government, actively policing their sites and banning users.
QQ & QZone- How Universities Can Reach 800 Million+ Chinese Users
According to Statista, with over 500 million active monthly users, media conglomerate Tencent’s QQ is one of the world’s largest social networks. QQ is essentially an instant messaging app not unlike Skype but also incorporates several built-in services, including the popular Facebook-like site Qzone, which also has over 500 million users. Despite its ubiquity, Western companies have long hesitated to invest in QQ marketing, as the platform’s users are perceived to be mostly young and have limited spending power.
Universities, however, may find that both QQ and Qzone have the potential for education lead generation in China. While QQ is generally used for one-to-one contact with close friends, the QQ groups function allows users to include anywhere from 200 to 1,000 people in chats, depending on their subscription level. The app could easily be leveraged to send targeted promotional materials to interested Chinese students, similar to how many schools currently use WhatsApp.
Example: While most Western universities aren’t very active on Qzone, you can get a few ideas by looking at the practices used by Chinese Institutions that have a presence on the site, such as Anhui University. As you can see, the layout is not too dissimilar from a Facebook page. Anhui uses Qzone similarly, sharing regular updates and answering student inquiries through the ‘message board’ function, which you can see in the left corner.
WeChat- The Next Big Thing in International Student Recruitment?
Often dubbed the “WhatsApp of China” due to its similar look and basic functionality, WeChat (aka Weixin) offers much more. Users can send voice, picture, text, and video messages without restrictions on file size, while the app’s moments section functions like a mini-social network, allowing users to post status updates among friends.
WeChat includes games, functions as a dating app, and has an E-commerce section, WeChat Wallet, where users can shop online or even order a cab like they would on Uber. WeChat is also owned by Tencent, and while it currently has fewer users than QQ, its popularity is rapidly growing. According to a 2024 Statista, WeChat has over 1.3 billion monthly users.
Example: The University of Nottingham heavily promotes the WeChat page of its Ningbo, China, international campus. Notice how prominently the QR codes for the pages are featured due to their popularity amongst Chinese users. Schools should promote their WeChat QR codes on all online and offline material and even set up a page with all WeChat links (featuring ‘WeChat’ in the title description and tags) for maximum SEO benefits.
The messaging service can be used to answer queries from prospective applicants and communicate with existing Chinese students on campus. With no file size restrictions or character limits, posting as much content as possible on your school’s Moments page is worthwhile.
Like Facebook, WeChat has been slowly introducing advertising into its Moments news feed, which could be a strategy worth pursuing to expand your WeChat presence.
Sina Weibo- Still a Reliable Social Media Marketing Channel for Schools
By far the most well-known Chinese social media site in the West, the microblogging platform Sina Weibo has recently experienced some decline. In 2013, the site boasted an estimated 600 million users, but just two years later, the company counted its user base at just 176 million, with the rise of WeChat fuelling the exodus.
Nonetheless, the site maintains some strategic importance for international higher education marketing. In a 2024 report, Weibo boasted 256 million active users.
Weibo remains the first port of call for breaking news stories and topical content and still has the most visible Western presence of all Chinese sites, with many international celebrities and brands posting regularly.
Example: The University of Michigan has worked hard to establish itself on Weibo and now has over 20,000 fans. The school posts content that is explicitly developed for current and future Chinese students.
Weibo is very similar to Twitter, and schools should approach it similarly, posting regular updates with informative content that will appeal to the Chinese audience.
It’s also worthwhile keeping an eye on the latest developments with Sina Weibo, as the site is constantly changing and improving.
RenRen- Exciting Opportunities to Reach an International Student Base
Launched in 2005, RenRen is one of the oldest social networks in China, but its popularity has dwindled significantly in recent years. While the site claims 195 million users, it has fallen far behind its competitors and struggles to be profitable.
However, RenRen is still a worthwhile platform for recruiters to investigate. Originally known as Xiaonei—which means schoolyard—the site targeted people who wanted to reconnect with former classmates. Despite its declining user base, it has maintained its popularity amongst students in 2nd—and 3rd-tier cities. Its specific user base is regarded as the platform for university students.
Although Renren has recently become more of an online gaming portal, the company has also invested in several finance-based services that open up intriguing university possibilities. In late 2014, the company rolled out RenRen Fenqi, an online student shopping service that bills in installments. Even more promisingly, RenRen has invested significantly in Social Finance, which provides student loans and financing solutions.
Developing a presence for your school on RenRen is relatively straightforward. The site provides a full service for business accounts, with paid advertising options and in-page analytics. As you can see from the page of international applications specialists ChaseFuture below, the interface bears more than a passing resemblance to Facebook:
However, there are several key differences in how the site works. For starters, RenRen users tend to write much longer posts than average and earn “points” and virtual currency to be more active on the site. This allows them access to customizable options like profile skins and unique gaming features. With that in mind, it’s probably important that schools posting on RenRen keep their site updated regularly to keep pace with its very active user base.
Launching Chinese Social Media Campaigns
Despite the numerous challenges, engaging potential students on Chinese social media makes it a marketing channel worth investigating.
Providing oversight and support to Chinese student ambassadors from your campus is a great way to manage the all-important direct communication valued by Chinese prospects. As the Chinese are particularly influenced by their immediate social circles, developing solid relationships early can deliver long-term benefits. To encourage real-time interactions despite time zone challenges, try offering convenient Q&A hours on your Chinese social media pages as Bristol University has done.
When operating social media accounts in China (or anywhere, for that matter), be sure to link back to your website and other social platforms, use consistent branding and frequency of content creation, adapt engaging content according to each social channel’s norms (cartoon-style content is very popular in China), be responsive, and adopt a test-and-learn approach to grow your presence over time.
As social media becomes more competitive and fragmented in China, colleges and universities serious about investing in international student recruitment should plan to reallocate resources to capitalize on emerging opportunities. For example, video apps Meipai and Pitu are on the rise and could be used for initiatives similar to those on Vine or Instagram.
*This blog post was published in 2016 but some facts have been updated for relevancy purposes.
FAQs To Consider
Is China the world’s largest social media market?
According to Statista, China is home to the world’s largest social media market, featuring highly engaged, mobile-savvy users. Its market structure differs significantly from that of other countries.
What is China’s stance on social media?
Due to the Chinese Communist Party maintaining control over all social media companies in China, many colleges and universities have done exceptional work in social media marketing in China, offering Chinese versions of their websites, offering admissions services to native speakers, and establishing educational partnerships with Chinese institutions.
