Why are people in China using Zoom?
- Zoom has found appeal among students, bankers and others in China seeking to connect with the rest of the world
- Competition is limited as communication apps from Google and others remain blocked by China’s Great Firewall
When the coronavirus outbreak prompted one university to cancel classes in Jiangsu province, administrators had to act quickly to keep the spring semester going.
Duke Kunshan University, a partnership between Duke University in the US and Wuhan University in China, hosts some 700 Chinese and foreign students from roughly 30 countries. With most of them staying home as the epidemic spread, they had to find a solution that worked for everyone – students and faculty alike, wherever they may be.
Eventually, they settled on Zoom.
“In the three weeks it took for us to move teaching and learning entirely online, we looked at several videoconferencing systems but felt that Zoom best suited our needs, as it was widely available and did not involve too much of a learning curve for faculty, staff and students,” said Scott MacEachern, the university’s vice chancellor for academic affairs.
“Given that our faculty and students were spread around the world, availability and ease of use were essential.”
The main barrier to finding such a solution is that China blocked many communication apps that the rest of the world uses. Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, just to name a few, are all inaccessible inside the country without a VPN.
Zoom stands as a rare example of a Western online tool that has global appeal – while remaining accessible inside China’s Great Firewall.
This unique status has put Zoom in the spotlight recently.
Yet it’s also Zoom’s unusual position that has allowed it to serve people in China who need to connect with the rest of the world for a variety of reasons, including work and education.
“Zoom generally works quite well for videoconferencing and webinars between China and the USA,” said James Miller, a professor of humanities at Duke Kunshan University.
03:27
US National Symphony Orchestra members perform Beethoven concert from homes amid pandemic
“Meetings over in Hong Kong are generally held on Zoom now,” she said.
(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)
For some users, it isn’t hard to choose among the many options. The decision ultimately boils down to who’s on the other end of the line.
“I tried Tencent Meeting and Google Meet because the particular host requested so,” said Lan Tang, a junior at Duke Kunshan University who currently lives in Shanghai. “[But] most people I’m meeting with prefer using Zoom.”
A Beijing-based investor surnamed Lin echoed the sentiment.
“We are more often meeting participants rather than the host, so [we] don’t have a strong preference in terms of apps or platforms,” said Lin, who uses Zoom five to 10 times a month to speak with entities he’s interested in investing in and finance professionals.
“Zoom is the top choice for foreign meetings since [it] is widely adopted by overseas users.”
But he also pointed out that Zoom lacks some of the features that he likes on Tencent Meeting.
Mini Programs: The apps inside apps that make WeChat so powerful
For one, you don’t actually have to download Tencent’s app. The service already exists as a mini program on WeChat, which means you can start a meeting right from inside WeChat instead of launching a separate app. This has significant appeal in China, where it’s unusual to find a smartphone owner who doesn’t already use WeChat.
A few users also told us they’ve experienced occasional connection issues with Zoom in China.
01:02
Japanese embrace virtual drinking party as people stay home during coronavirus pandemic
“We use Tencent Meeting as an alternative whenever Zoom doesn't connect well,” said Teddy Zheng, a banker working in Beijing. He said his company, which is based in China, regularly uses Zoom to communicate within the country – not uncommon in Chinese banking and investment circles, according to industry insiders.
Others simply see Zoom as the most convenient tool to do their job.
“I use Zoom for work and meetings on a daily basis. My company uses Zoom globally, that’s why all of my coworkers use it,” said Ms. Qi, who works in Beijing for a New York-based advertising agency.
“If I had the chance to pick on my own will, I’d choose the one with the best user experience – no need for fancy functions, just focus on videoconferencing.”
