What is Xigua and how to get started?

What a foreign brand must clear to operate on Xigua

Fact	Primary source
Every Xigua account must be tied to a verified real identity — that is national law, not a platform setting. Xigua is an online audio-video service, and under the Provisions on the Administration of Network Audio-Video Information Services (《网络音视频信息服务管理规定》 — Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and National Radio and Television Administration, effective January 1, 2020) a provider must 对用户进行基于组织机构代码、身份证件号码、移动电话号码等方式的真实身份信息认证 (authenticate each user's real identity), and 用户不提供真实身份信息的…不得为其提供信息发布服务 — no verified identity, no right to publish. Article 6 also requires providers to 依法取得法律、行政法规规定的相关资质 (hold the qualifications the law requires). Read the provisions →	Cyberspace Administration of China — 网络音视频信息服务管理规定 (cac.gov.cn), effective 2020-01-01, retrieved 2026-10-07
A foreign passport does not pass ByteDance's identity check, so a foreign individual generally cannot self-verify. Xigua's business onboarding runs through a ByteDance/Douyin account. As reported in January 2025, Douyin's "registration page has always allowed users to input overseas phone numbers," but "verification still requires a Chinese ID card, a Hong Kong/Macau travel permit, or a foreign permanent residence permit," and "there is no option to verify with a foreign passport." In practice this pushes a foreign brand toward a mainland entity or a verified local partner to hold the account.	TechNode — Douyin international registration claim debunked (2025-01-17), retrieved 2026-10-07
A verified business (enterprise) account is authenticated against a Chinese business registration — yours or a local party's. China's real-name rules require a platform to authenticate every account against verified identity information and to withhold service where it is not provided (Cybersecurity Law Article 24), and the network audio-video rules spell out that for an organization this authentication runs on its organization/registration code, not a personal ID. So a commercial, enterprise-verified presence keys to a Chinese business registration (营业执照): a foreign brand, which has no such registration of its own, in practice operates through a mainland entity it establishes — a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE) — or through a China-registered partner that holds the registration and carries the account. Either way the account runs through a Chinese-registered entity.	Cybersecurity Law of the PRC, Article 24 (real-identity authentication) — DigiChina (Stanford) translation; organization-code-based authentication per the Provisions on the Administration of Network Audio-Video Information Services (CAC, effective 2020-01-01; cited above), retrieved 2026-10-08
The audio-visual program license sits with the platform — and a foreign-invested company cannot hold one. Under the Provisions on the Administration of Internet Audio-Visual Program Services (国家广播电影电视总局、信息产业部令[2007]第56号, amended 2015), 从事互联网视听节目服务，应当依照本规定取得…《信息网络传播视听节目许可证》, and 未…取得…《许可证》或履行备案手续，任何单位和个人不得从事互联网视听节目服务; an applicant must 具备法人资格，为国有独资或国有控股单位 — a state-owned or state-controlled entity. So a foreign brand does not run its own audio-visual service; it operates a presence on ByteDance's licensed platform, under the platform's content-review duty.	国家广播电影电视总局 · 信息产业部令第56号 — 互联网视听节目服务管理规定 (reproduction; amended 2015), retrieved 2026-10-07
The follower and viewer data a presence generates is personal information under PIPL. Audience lists, contact details and analytics you collect through the platform are personal information: sending them to systems outside the mainland is a cross-border transfer under PIPL (notice, separate consent and a transfer mechanism, Articles 38–43), and a critical-information-infrastructure operator or large-volume handler must store the data in China (Cybersecurity Law Article 39 (formerly Article 37); PIPL Article 40). What you may move, and how, is a legal question to settle before launch, not after.	China Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), full text — Arts. 38–43, 40; Cybersecurity Law Art. 39 (2026 revision)

Sources verified by the 21YunBox compliance team on 2026-10-07.

About Xigua

Xigua Video, also known as 西瓜视频, is a Chinese online video-sharing platform owned by ByteDance.

Initially launched as Toutiao Video in 2016, Xigua is similar to YouTube, focusing on professionally-made long videos, TV programs, movie streaming, and other original productions. This is also how Xigua differentiates itself from other Bytedance-founded products such as Douyin and TikTok. Creators on Xigua receive shares of advertising revenue, just like on YouTube. According to Chinese research firm QuestMobile, Xigua Video has 131 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of June 2020.

How To Get Started On Xigua

Content Creators

Sign up on Xigua Video with your phone number or social media logins to create and upload video content.

Business and Advertising

Like most video-streaming platforms, Xigua Video provides different advertisement formats, such as bumper and out-stream ads. Suppose you want to advertise your business on Xigua. In that case, you can sign up on ByteDance’s ad platform Ocean Engine, which is also used by other social products by ByteDance, such as Douyin and TikTok.

To get started, you need a Douyin Account to log in at https://doujia.douyin.com/.

Do not have a Chinese entity, Chinese phone number or Chinese ID? We can help!

If you do not have a Chinese entity, Chinese ID, or Chinese phone number, which is essential to use Xigua, 21YunBox is here to help.

We can provide the necessary supporting documents to use Xigua and walk you through the process. Meanwhile, we will also bring your company, product, and service into full compliance with Chinese law.

Contact us now to learn more about our solutions for doing business in China legitimately!