What are the specific rules and guidelines to deliver emails to the Chinese market?

Delivering emails to the Chinese market is a complex undertaking that necessitates adherence to specific rules, guidelines, and cultural nuances. It involves obtaining necessary licenses (MIIT and potentially ICP), leveraging local resources (ESPs and servers within China), ensuring technical compatibility (DBCS and UTF-8 encoding), and actively managing sender reputation (IP warming, blacklist monitoring, and bounce/complaint management). Content localization is critical, encompassing cultural relevance, legal compliance, translation into simplified Chinese, and mobile optimization. Proactive relationship-building with Chinese ISPs and adjusting authentication practices (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are also recommended. Furthermore, recognize that e-commerce in China relies more heavily on local chat systems than traditional email.

Delivering emails to the Chinese market requires a multifaceted approach that goes beyond standard email marketing practices. Key elements include using local resources like Chinese ESPs and servers (such as Sendcloud), ensuring technical compatibility with DBCS, and actively managing sender reputation through IP warming and blacklist monitoring. Content localization is essential, encompassing cultural relevance, adherence to local customs, and translation into simplified Chinese. Optimal timing involves sending emails during peak Chinese online activity hours. Mobile optimization is also important due to high mobile usage in China. Finally, proactive relationship-building with Chinese ISPs is recommended for addressing deliverability issues.

Delivering emails to the Chinese market presents unique challenges due to complex regulations, cultural differences, and distinct technical requirements. It's often necessary to have local language expertise and potentially a local business presence. Traditional email is less prevalent for e-commerce, with local chat systems being more common. Managing bounces and complaints is crucial for maintaining deliverability, and adjusting email authentication practices (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to meet Chinese market standards is also necessary. Expert assistance, such as contracting with specialized services like Webpower, may be required.

Email deliverability in the Chinese market is governed by specific technical and regulatory requirements. ESPs must obtain a license from the MIIT to operate legally. While not directly related, an ICP license can indirectly improve deliverability by establishing legitimacy. Implementing email authentication methods like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for verifying sender identity and preventing spoofing. Monitoring and managing bounce rates are essential for maintaining sender reputation. Using UTF-8 character encoding ensures proper display of Chinese characters, and a properly configured reverse DNS (rDNS) record validates the association between the sending IP address and domain.