Market Research Companies in China

Key figures for researchers

Population

1.405 billion (end of 2025)¹

Urban population

67.9% (end of 2025)¹

60 and over / 65 and over

23.0% / 15.9% (end of 2025)¹

Households

514.65 million, 2.52 people on average (Nov. 2025 sample survey)²

Putonghua (Mandarin) speakers

80.72% of the population (2020)³

Internet users

1.125 billion, 80.1% penetration (Dec. 2025)⁴

Mobile internet users

1.121 billion (2025)¹

Rural internet penetration

69.5% (Dec. 2025)⁴

City tiers (commercial ranking)

4 first-tier and 15 “new first-tier” cities out of 337 ranked (2025)⁶

GDP per capita

about US$13,900 (2025)⁵

Research guide

Research landscape

Research agencies are concentrated in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, with a growing presence in other large cities. Local agencies work alongside offices of international research networks, and many agencies rely on field partners to cover several provinces.

Samples are often structured by city tier. These tiers are not official: a widely quoted commercial ranking classifies 337 cities, with 4 first-tier cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou) and 15 “new first-tier” cities such as Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and Xi’an (2025 edition). Consumer behaviour, prices and media use vary widely between tiers and regions: agree with your agency which tier definition is used for quotas and reporting.

Languages and fieldwork

Questionnaires are written in Simplified Chinese and administered in Putonghua (Mandarin), spoken by 80.72% of the population in 2020. For qualitative work, interviewers or moderators who speak the local language may be needed in some regions, for example Cantonese in Guangdong, other dialects with older or rural respondents, and minority languages in some autonomous regions. Most B2B interviews are also conducted in Mandarin.

Urbanisation has reached 67.9%, but 32.3% of the population still lived in rural areas in November 2025, so a nationally representative sample needs fieldwork beyond the large cities. The population is ageing quickly: 23.0% are 60 and over, against 15.3% under 15, which matters for quotas and for the choice of method.

Which methods work

China is a mobile-first market: 1.125 billion people use the internet (80.1%) and 1.121 billion go online by mobile phone. Online surveys are the usual choice for urban consumers and many B2B targets; they should be designed for smartphones, and respondents are often reached through online panels or the messaging, social and payment apps that dominate daily digital life.

Online panels tend to over-represent younger, urban and higher-tier respondents, and rural internet penetration is lower (69.5%). For older people, lower-tier cities and rural areas, face-to-face interviews (CAPI), central location tests and telephone interviews remain useful. Focus groups and in-depth interviews are usually held in first-tier and new first-tier cities, in dedicated facilities or online.

Timing

Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) falls in late January or February: 6 February in 2027. The official holiday lasted nine days in 2026 (15–23 February), and the surrounding travel period lasts about 40 days, with a forecast of 9.5 billion domestic trips in 2026. Fieldwork slows for several weeks around the holiday, as many people travel home and businesses close.

Also avoid the National Day Golden Week (1–7 October) and the Labour Day break (1–5 May in 2026). Public holidays are often bridged with make-up working days on weekends, published each year by the State Council: check the official calendar before setting fieldwork dates.

Data protection

Personal data is governed by the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), in force since 1 November 2021, which can also apply to processing outside China. Separate consent is needed for sensitive personal information and for transfers abroad, and children under 14 require a guardian’s consent. Under the 2024 cross-border data provisions of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), exporting general personal data of fewer than 100,000 people a year is exempt from the transfer mechanisms; 100,000 to 1 million people requires a standard contract filing or a certification (rules in force since 1 January 2026); above 1 million, or above 10,000 people for sensitive data, a CAC security assessment is required. Fines can reach RMB 50 million or 5% of annual turnover.

Foreign-related surveys fall under China’s statistics framework (the Statistics Law was last amended in September 2024) and are regulated by the National Bureau of Statistics (Measures for the Administration of Foreign-related Surveys, 涉外调查管理办法). A survey commissioned or funded by a foreign organisation, or whose results are supplied abroad, must be carried out by an agency holding a foreign-related survey licence; foreign organisations may not run market or social surveys directly. Social surveys (other than market surveys of goods and services) also need prior approval, and questionnaires must show the licence number and state that participation is voluntary. Rules have evolved, including openings to foreign investment since 2022: check the current requirements with your agency or a lawyer.

Working with a local agency

• Share a clear brief: objectives, target, sample size, cities and tiers, method, languages and deadline.
• Ask whether the agency holds a foreign-related survey licence and whether your project is a market survey or a social survey that needs approval.
• Agree how personal data will be collected, consented and transferred abroad (exemption, standard contract, certification or security assessment), or receive anonymised data only.
• Ask who does the fieldwork: own teams or partners, and in which provinces and dialects.
• Ask about quality control: panel recruitment and fraud checks online, back-checks and audio or GPS checks for face-to-face interviews.
• Compare several proposals: you can send one request to up to 5 companies from this page.