Chinese Alternatives To Popular Apps And

Websites
By Pritesh Pawar / Tech Industry and Case studies / 7 minutes of reading

China is too conservative when it comes to technology. The Great Chinese Firewall
forced them to create Chinese alternatives for all popular websites and apps.

We have already seen how they became a giant electronic manufacturing hub. We
simply cannot defeat them shortly.

[Here are the reasons: Why Can’t We Manufacture Mobile Phones in India?]

If we keep going by the current progressive rate and they keep going at their current
pace, we will never be able to compete with them.

Yes, that’s a bitter reality.

Do you know China is not only ruling the Indian market with hardware and daily items
but it is also strongly ruling us in the software market?

But China doesn’t even allow American companies to enter its borders.
Let’s not talk about Indian companies, because we simply don’t have any impactful
brands!

The world is using all their electronic gadgets and software. Meanwhile, China doesn’t
use Google or YouTube like us.

Table Of Contents
Popular Apps & Websites And Their Chinese Alternatives
1] Chinese Alternative For Google – Baidu
2] Chinese Alternative For Google Maps – Baidu Maps
3] Chinese Alternative For YouTube – Youku Tudou
4] Chinese Alternative For Social Media – WeChat, QQ, Xiaohongshu,
Weibo
5] Chinese Alternative For Amazon – Ali Express
6] Chinese Alternative For Uber – DiDi
7] Chinese Alternative For Uber Eats – WaiMai
8] Chinese Alternative For Paypal – Alipay
9] Chinese Alternative For Google Chrome Browser – UC Browser
10] Chinese Alternatives For Google Play Store
Top Chinese Apps Used in India

Popular Apps & Websites And Their

Chinese Alternatives
1] Chinese Alternative For Google – Baidu

Even Chinese people need a search engine but Google is banned by the Chinese Govt.
So what will they use?

China has a great Google alternative ‘Baidu’ and it is completely working in the
Chinese language.

Even English works 몭ne but the results are not too great. It is meant for the Chinese
language and it does a great job.
Similar to Google, it has all other services like Baidu Images, Baidu Videos, Baidu
Maps, etc.

Baidu has 1.2 Billion, active monthly users, as compared to Google’s 2 Billion active
monthly users.

Being the number 1 app in China, it holds 76.05 percent of China’s market share.
Undoubtedly, almost all Baidu users are Chinese.

Baidu Search Engine | Link

Other players in the search engine market include Qihoo360 and Sogou.

2] Chinese Alternative For Google Maps – Baidu

Maps
Similar to Google Maps, it has everything like Navigation, Street View, Suggestions,
Ratings, and Reviews.

Unfortunately, I didn’t 몭nd any English version. It is completely Chinese.

Surprisingly it understood my English keyword ‘Mumbai’ and it showed me the exact

location. However, the internal details are not so accurate.

According to the old data of 2016, Baidu Maps had 348 Million users while Google
crossed 1 Billion users in 2016.

Baidu Maps | Link

Other navigation apps like AutoNavi and Apple Maps also have a good amount of
share in the market. Also, people heavily use Google Maps using VPNs.

[Also Read: How does Google Maps work?]

3] Chinese Alternative For YouTube – Youku Tudou

China banned Google because of YouTube in 2007. This is where the whole matter
got ignited.

A few videos showing Chinese forces beating Tibetans in Lhasa got viral on YouTube.
Chinese claimed these videos to be fake and banned YouTube from their country.

The huge di몭erence between YouTube and Youku is that creators can set up their
online stores with their Youku channel. In this way, visitors can directly buy the
products after watching the video.

I found this concept pretty good.

Youku | Link

Other famous video streaming platforms include Sohu, Sina, Tencent, NetEase, Baidu,
Phoenix New Media, PCauto, China몭nanceonline, AutoHome, and BitAuto.

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4] Chinese Alternative For Social Media – WeChat,

QQ, Xiaohongshu, Weibo
Okay. Let me be clearer now.
Okay. Let me be clearer now.

Whatsapp = WeChat
Facebook = QQ
Twitter = Weibo
Instagram = Xiaohongshu
Tinder = Tantan

Every social media is di몭erent but they all come under social networking platforms.
So, I found some equivalent Chinese alternatives that are way too close.

WeChat is even popular worldwide but it is the primary instant messaging platform in
China. Except that it is not as simple as Whatsapp.

QQ is completely China-oriented and it has a feed section with the ability to add
friends. Hence, it is close to Facebook.

Weibo seems to be a micro-blogging platform where people share their thoughts on

the latest news.

Xiaohongshu is an image-based platform but it is only available in Chinese. Hence it is

a great alternative to our Instagram.

Meanwhile, people in China have their own dating app Tantan where the UI is exactly
similar to Tinder. The same left-right swipes are to be done to match.

5] Chinese Alternative For Amazon – Ali Express

I don’t need to mention much about AliExpress since most of the people might have
heard about it. Alibaba Group owns it.

Amazon might not be working in China but AliExpress works everywhere. If you ever
want to import Chinese items then this is your platform. It delivers you to India but it
takes much more time.

AliExpress | Link

6] Chinese Alternative For Uber – DiDi

If you ever get to visit China and you need to book a cab, your Uber won’t work there.
DiDi will rescue you. Literally!

DiDi is currently working in multiple countries – Australia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia,

Japan, Mexico, and of course, China.

No wonder they didn’t allow Uber or Ola to even enter its premises and expand their
services globally.

DiDi Global | Link

Not only cabs but you can even rent a bicycle in China using Mobike App or Ofo App.

7] Chinese Alternative For Uber Eats – WaiMai

I am mentioning Uber Eats because it is still the largest Food Delivery App in the
world. Although it has been acquired by Zomato in India we are considering the global
levels.

[You must read: Why Zomato Acquired Uber Eats in India?]

Waimai is having strong support from Tencent and it has more than 61.3% of the
Waimai is having strong support from Tencent and it has more than 61.3% of the
Chinese market share alone.

Waimai | Link

8] Chinese Alternative For Paypal – Alipay

Paypal was the 몭rst player in the UPI payments. Then we got Paytm for India.

But what about China? Their economy is having a huge space for online payments so
they might be using some apps. De몭nitely not Paypal or Paytm.

Chinese use Alipay. More than 1.2 Billion people use Alipay globally.

Since the cash circulation is less in China, almost everyone uses Alipay. All their
counters have barcodes to pay digitally.

[You might like: How QR Codes work?]

9] Chinese Alternative For Google Chrome Browser
– UC Browser
The fact is that Chinese people use Google Chrome using a VPN. Hence, technically
the highest browser share goes to Google Chrome even in China.

[Refer: How VPN Works?]

But looking at the picture, UC Browser is their browser and it has more than 10% of
the total share.

I don’t need to give any link for UC Browser because you might be already having it if
you own a Chinese brand.

10] Chinese Alternatives For Google Play Store

You might be wondering that if China has banned all Google platforms then how do
Chinese people install Android apps?

The answer is that every Chinese phone has its own App Store. There is no single Play
The answer is that every Chinese phone has its own App Store. There is no single Play
Store on every phone.

For instance, Oppo App Store, Oppo App Store, Huawei App Store, Xiaomi App Store,
Vivo App Store are a few to name.

Other signi몭cant players working individually include Tencent My App Store, 360
Mobile Assistant, Baidu Mobile Assistant, PP Assistant, China Mobile MM Store, Anzhi
Market, etc.

Similarly, they use iQiyi as an alternative to our Net몭ix, and QQ Music is used instead
of Spotify.

In short, they have all the essential apps and websites.

That was about the Chinese Alternatives to our popular apps and websites. We got it!
We got it how China is conservative enough to not let anyone enter their market.

But they are ruling international markets.

Top Chinese Apps Used in India

1. TikTok
2. LIKE
3. Kwai
4. Helo
5. TrueCaller
6. Xender
7. SHAREit
8. Cam Scanner
9. PUBG
10. ES File Explorer
11. Clean Master
 12. Clash of Kings
13. WeChat
14. UCBrowser
15. UCBrowser Mini
16. DU recorder
17. LiveMe
18. VivaVideo
19. Bigo Live
20. Vigo Video
21. BeautyPlus
22. Parallel Space
23. Sel몭eCity
24. Photo Wonder
25. Vault-Hide
26. YouCam Makeup
27. CM Browser
28. WeSync
29. LivU
30. Mobile Legends
31. ClubFactory
32. Shein
33. Romwe
34. AppLock
35. Club Factory
36. VMate
37. Game of Sultans
38. Ma몭a City
39. Battle of Empires
40. Turbo VPN

This is just a small list. In fact, the Indian Government made a list of 42 Chinese Apps
that were found to be dangerous.

[Here is the list: Financial Express Report]

[Here is the list: Financial Express Report]

I’d only say that people often angrily say phrases like ‘Boycott Chinese Products’ or
‘Ban China’. But the reality is that we are too dependent on China now.

Are you searching for an Alternative to Chinese Apps? I am linking the article. Check it
out.

[Read Here: Non-Chinese Alternatives For Popular Chinese Apps]

Let me know what else did you observe that comes from China.

Share this post to all your Whatsapp and Facebook Groups to share spread
awareness. You can even join our Whatsapp group.

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