4 ms·

Likely the reason why a lot of VPN apps are Chinese is because there is an actual demand for VPN usage in China. You then multiply that with the population size

Likely the reason why a lot of VPN apps are Chinese is because there is an actual demand for VPN usage in China. You then multiply that with the population size (19% of the world is Chinese or roughly 1 in 5 people in this world) and you will have a massive market to grow for local Chinese VPN developers and for them to prosper. The article author sounds surprised but it is quite logical if you think about it.

tehlike 8y ago
This is not entirely true. Some, if not all, of these companies start outside of china, but end up getting bought by chinese capital. I do not have a source for this, i just know from my chat with friends.
- dis-sys 8y ago
  It works both way. I used to use a shadowsocks based service called "God Use VPN" or 佛跳墙 in Chinese, which is a dish name. It was so popular to the extend that google translation used to believe that the English name of that Chinese dish known as "佛跳墙" is "God Use VPN". It was recently sold to a foreign owner and stopped provided any Chinese based services - if you send them some emails in Chinese, you get English responses. Pretty clear sign that they quit the Chinese market for whatever reason.
  - ElBarto 8y ago
    VPN use is illegal in China, which is a good reason to quit the market. For Chinese apps, we can only imagine that the government does really police the ban or that they are honey pots...
    - cauldron 8y ago
      In fact they don't care that much if you are deemed reliable, like some state institutes, researchers, there's is a priviledged net CSTNET for those people, they don't block anything on that. They are far more lenient on English sites, presumably due to the requirement of high education level to read. And there is a university net, it's slightly less blocked than public nets. They've charged someone for selling VPN online, but charging users is effectively unprobable due to the sheer number, but since Chinese laws are generally vague, judges and prosecutors are easily influenced and arbitrary on party security cases, they can always pick couple guys off to make a statement or set an example, like Sabotaging Computer Systems.
      - baybal2 8y ago
        That myth was perpetuated for a long time. So far, I have not seen any genuine "unblocked network" in China. The few companies and universities with campus-wide unblocked internet simply use VSAT, or just a regular VPN. I've been on Microsoft's campus once, and the external IP of their wifi was that of an HK colo, same with the famed "very secret" Nottingham uni network that had Singaporean IPs. Not even people in Qinghua (number one uni in China, if you don't count central party school) I know, know of anything that amounts to that. The very same thing with MPLS, and allegedly "physically uninterrupted" links to HK. They also have GFW on them. There is nothing that amounts to "officially permitted VPN" in China. That's a myth. The only thing that amounts to that are microwave to HK/Macau, HK SIM, VSAT, or a cable across Sham Chun, and all of this is being actively looked for by police and three letter services.
  - rqs 8y ago
    > Pretty clear sign that they quit the Chinese market for whatever reason Well, I'm not very sure, but we had few crack downs on VPN selling recently in China, some people even received prison time plus fine. It's not very safe to operate VPN company in China, so maybe the best way is to sell that hot potato to whatever who wants to take it. The only exception is probably "Game Accelerator"(s) which is a special type of VPN that only transports game traffic.
deleted 8y ago
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jobigoud 8y ago
How do these VPN bypass the Great Firewall if they are in China?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- klipt 8y ago
  Some are based in e.g. Hong Kong which is in China but separately administered. (E.g. Chinese residents in Hong Kong are allowed dual citizenship while mainland Chinese are not.)

tehlike 8y ago

This is not entirely true. Some, if not all, of these companies start outside of china, but end up getting bought by chinese capital. I do not have a source for this, i just know from my chat with friends.

dis-sys 8y ago
It works both way. I used to use a shadowsocks based service called "God Use VPN" or 佛跳墙 in Chinese, which is a dish name. It was so popular to the extend that google translation used to believe that the English name of that Chinese dish known as "佛跳墙" is "God Use VPN". It was recently sold to a foreign owner and stopped provided any Chinese based services - if you send them some emails in Chinese, you get English responses. Pretty clear sign that they quit the Chinese market for whatever reason.
- ElBarto 8y ago
  VPN use is illegal in China, which is a good reason to quit the market. For Chinese apps, we can only imagine that the government does really police the ban or that they are honey pots...
  - cauldron 8y ago
    In fact they don't care that much if you are deemed reliable, like some state institutes, researchers, there's is a priviledged net CSTNET for those people, they don't block anything on that. They are far more lenient on English sites, presumably due to the requirement of high education level to read. And there is a university net, it's slightly less blocked than public nets. They've charged someone for selling VPN online, but charging users is effectively unprobable due to the sheer number, but since Chinese laws are generally vague, judges and prosecutors are easily influenced and arbitrary on party security cases, they can always pick couple guys off to make a statement or set an example, like Sabotaging Computer Systems.
    - baybal2 8y ago
      That myth was perpetuated for a long time. So far, I have not seen any genuine "unblocked network" in China. The few companies and universities with campus-wide unblocked internet simply use VSAT, or just a regular VPN. I've been on Microsoft's campus once, and the external IP of their wifi was that of an HK colo, same with the famed "very secret" Nottingham uni network that had Singaporean IPs. Not even people in Qinghua (number one uni in China, if you don't count central party school) I know, know of anything that amounts to that. The very same thing with MPLS, and allegedly "physically uninterrupted" links to HK. They also have GFW on them. There is nothing that amounts to "officially permitted VPN" in China. That's a myth. The only thing that amounts to that are microwave to HK/Macau, HK SIM, VSAT, or a cable across Sham Chun, and all of this is being actively looked for by police and three letter services.
- rqs 8y ago
  > Pretty clear sign that they quit the Chinese market for whatever reason Well, I'm not very sure, but we had few crack downs on VPN selling recently in China, some people even received prison time plus fine. It's not very safe to operate VPN company in China, so maybe the best way is to sell that hot potato to whatever who wants to take it. The only exception is probably "Game Accelerator"(s) which is a special type of VPN that only transports game traffic.

deleted 8y ago

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jobigoud 8y ago

How do these VPN bypass the Great Firewall if they are in China?

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
klipt 8y ago
Some are based in e.g. Hong Kong which is in China but separately administered. (E.g. Chinese residents in Hong Kong are allowed dual citizenship while mainland Chinese are not.)