Update time: June 7, 2024
If you’re using Adobe Analytics and your website targets users in China, you’ve probably run into two separate problems at once.
- First, there’s the legal side. China’s Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) requires that user data collected in China be stored and processed locally. Sending it straight to Adobe’s servers outside China puts you in a legally risky position.
- Second, there’s the performance side. The Great Firewall of China makes loading the Adobe Launch library slow and unreliable for users inside the country. If your Launch library takes several seconds just to load, your tracking is broken before it even starts.
These are not small problems. But Adobe does offer solutions — two paid features that are specifically designed for operating in China. The catch? Your organization needs to purchase them, and you need to contact Adobe’s Customer Care Center to get them enabled.
China Performance Optimization for Adobe Analytics
This is the feature that solves the data collection problem.
Adobe’s China Performance Optimization lets you send data from users in mainland China directly to Adobe’s edge collection servers (RDC — Regional Data Collection) located inside China, instead of routing them to servers in other regions around the world.
The benefits are straightforward:
- Faster page loads. Data stays within China’s network infrastructure instead of crossing international boundaries.
- Better data accuracy. Without the GFW interfering with tracking requests, you get a more complete picture of your Chinese users.
- No legal risk. Since data is collected inside China, you’re not running afoul of PIPL requirements around overseas data transmission.
To get this enabled, you’ll need to contact Adobe’s Customer Care Center and request activation. It’s a paid feature, so your organization needs to purchase it.
Premium CDN Support for Adobe Launch
The second problem is about performance on the tag management side.
Adobe Launch loads its library code from Adobe’s CDN. For users in China, that means making a request to a server outside the Great Firewall, which is slow, unreliable, and sometimes blocked entirely. I’ve seen cases where the Launch library takes 10+ seconds to load in China — and by that point, the user has already left the page.
Premium CDN Support solves this by serving your Adobe Launch library from a CDN inside China. Instead of fetching the library from an international server, users in China get it from a local .cn domain.
The result is simple: your Launch library loads much faster, and your tracking fires reliably for Chinese visitors.
After it’s enabled, you’ll see your Launch library loading from a .cn URL instead of the usual global endpoint.
Again, this is a paid feature. Contact Adobe’s Customer Care Center to purchase and enable it.
Premium CDN Support is to use China’s CDN for Adobe Launch Library Code, which can make Adobe Launch Library Code load faster in China.
Adobe Analytics in China: Final Words
So here’s the bottom line: Adobe Analytics in China is possible, but it requires paying for two additional features.
If you’re serious about tracking users in China accurately and legally, both features are worth considering. The China Performance Optimization handles data collection compliance and reliability, while Premium CDN Support fixes the Launch library loading speed. Without them, you’ll likely face slow page loads, missing data, and legal uncertainty.
One thing I should note: I don’t know the exact pricing for these features — Adobe doesn’t publish it publicly. You’ll need to reach out to your Adobe account team or Customer Care Center for that.
I hope this guide helped you. If you’ve gone through the process of enabling these features for your organization, I’d love to hear how it went — drop a comment and share your experience.