Can Wikipedia Compete in China?

Why does China fascinate so many of us? It has such promise, but with unparalleled complexity. I’m part of a team working with the Wikimedia board to conduct some strategic planning and as we continue to delve deeper into the Wikimedia strategy process, the question of China looms large.

And for good reason: There are 300M Internet users in China today and less than 1% of them are Wikipedia readers. This is by far the lowest positioning of Wikipedia in major countries (by way of comparison Wikipedia ranks 9th in India). Adding to the challenge, Wikipedia faces two local competitors in Baidu and Hudong. Both are for-profit businesses. Wikipedia also operates from offshore, meaning slower site performance and easy mechanisms for censors to block access.

As I referenced in my last blog, China Internet experts are skeptical that Wikipedia can make it in China. One expert laughed out loud at the prospect and suggested partnerships with Baidu or Hudong. Another argued that non-Chinese sites including giants like Google and eBay are getting beat by the Chinese for a good reason. The Chinese are Chinese. They deliver what their Internet users want. They aren’t inhibited by “global” ideas of what a site should look like or deliver or values regarding censorship.

The interesting thing is that Wikipedia Chinese continues to develop and grow. The number of substantive articles grew by 40% over the past year and the community of contributors expanded by 14% to almost 2,000 active editors. Are the skeptics right that Wikimedia faces the same fate as the Internet giants or is there something different about this community-driven nonprofit? It would be great to know what you think as we consider what Wikimedia should do in China.

Barry Newstead is a partner at The Bridgespan Group currently supporting Wikimedia’s open strategy process.