Introduction

Adobe’s Experience Platform Web SDK (aka AEP Web SDK) promises unified data collection and personalisation, but companies operating in mainland China face unique challenges due to the Great Firewall. Lets shed light on why AEP Web SDK calls are failing for China-based users and what (if any) solutions or roadmap exist.

The short answer: AEP Web SDK is currently not supported for regional data collection within China, leading to cross-origin (CORS) failures when web pages in China try to send data or fetch decisions via the Adobe Edge Network

The China Challenge for AEP Web SDK

Why do AEP Web SDK requests fail in China? 

The root cause is that Adobe’s Edge Network has no local data collection endpoint inside mainland China for the Web SDK. When a browser in China attempts to send analytics data or fetch personalisation offers via the Web SDK, those network calls are directed to servers outside the Great Firewall (e.g. Adobe data centres in Singapore, Europe, or the US). China’s internet restrictions and network policies often block or severely slow down these cross-border requests.

When a client saw CORS errors and failed “interact” calls – meaning the browser could not successfully reach Adobe’s services from a China-based IP.

This aligns with Adobe’s official documentation, which clearly states that “China RDC only applies to Adobe Analytics using AppMeasurement data collection. Other Experience Cloud services and Web SDK data collection are not supported.”

In other words, the AEP Web SDK cannot currently bypass or operate within the Great Firewall, so any tracking or personalisation calls initiated by it are likely to fail for users in mainland China.

It’s important to note that this limitation isn’t due to a flaw in the Web SDK code, but rather the lack of a regional infrastructure for it. The Web SDK itself doesn’t control where data goes – it relies on Adobe’s back-end Edge network. Since Adobe does not yet offer a “China-only” edge collection for Web SDK, there is no way for those calls to stay within China’s borders.

The outcome: data sent from Chinese websites via Web SDK never reaches Adobe’s Platform, and any features depending on real-time calls (like Experience Platform decisioning or Analytics streaming) won’t function for that audience.

Experience Platform Tags (Launch) vs. Web SDK in China

One point of confusion is the difference between loading the library and sending the data. Adobe Experience Platform Tags (formerly Launch) is the tag management system that delivers the Web SDK library (JavaScript) to your site. Adobe does provide a solution to host this library within China: the Experience Platform Tags (China) feature. This is a paid “premium CDN” option whereby your tag library files can be replicated on servers inside mainland China.

With this enabled, when users in China visit your site, the Adobe tags JS file (which includes the Web SDK code) will be served from a .cn domain or a China-based CDN node, thus loading quickly and complying with regulations about hosting site assets locally.

However – and this is crucial – hosting the tag library in China does not mean the data collected by that library stays in China. The Web SDK code, once loaded, will still attempt to send data to Adobe’s Edge Network endpoints (for example, to submit analytics events or retrieve personalisation content). Because, as mentioned, there are no Edge servers inside the firewall for those services, these network calls still go out to global Adobe endpoints and get blocked. By enabling Experience Platform Tags (China), “files hosted by Tags with the (paid) China option are located within the Great Firewall,” which ensures the JavaScript loads successfully. Any calls triggered by the Web SDK (or other libraries) will still face the same issues, since the data is trying to reach Adobe outside China. In short, AEP Tags/Launch can be made China-friendly (for loading), but AEP Web SDK calls are not China-friendly (for data transport).

Tags(China) →

As shown above, organisations can take advantage of the China-hosted tag library for faster load times and compliance, and they can leverage Adobe Analytics’ China RDC for pageview tracking if they stick to the older AppMeasurement approach. But if you’ve moved to the AEP Web SDK for unified collection, you currently cannot achieve true data collection or Edge interactions entirely within China’s borders. The net result is lost data (no hits received) and missing functionality for users in China.

The Adobe Analytics China Add-on (China RDC)

Adobe Analytics users may be familiar with the China Regional Data Collection (RDC) solution, officially known as the China Performance Optimization add-on. This add-on establishes an Adobe data collection endpoint in Beijing, allowing analytics hits from Chinese visitors to be captured within China first (avoiding firewall issues) and then forwarded to Adobe’s core servers for processing. Technically, it often involves using a tracking domain that points to the China edge node. Companies concerned with either performance or regulatory requirements in China can purchase this add-on to improve Analytics data fidelity.

However, a critical caveat highlighted by Adobe’s documentation is that this China RDC add-on does not extend to the Experience Platform Web SDK. It was designed for Adobe Analytics’ traditional data collection (AppMeasurement and similar endpoints). So while it solves one piece of the puzzle (web analytics hits), it doesn’t help with the broader AEP Web SDK events or Experience Edge network calls. If you configure Web SDK on a site and also enable China RDC for Analytics, what you’d get is a partial result at best: maybe your Adobe Analytics hits could be rerouted (if you configured a custom analytics endpoint and your Web SDK is sending data specifically to Analytics), but any other AEP-related calls from the Web SDK (to Adobe Experience Platform, Journey Optimizer, Customer Journey Analytics, etc.) would still not find a China path. In practical terms, the Web SDK cannot fully leverage the China data centre, since “Other Experience Cloud services and Web SDK data collection are not supported” by that add-on.

Adobe’s official stance (per their Regional Data Collection documentation) is unambiguous on this point. The presence of China in the RDC options is only for Analytics with the add-on, and “Web SDK data collection” isn’t supported in that scenario. This means organisations that have moved to the Web SDK and want to maintain or improve their China tracking find themselves in a tough spot: either dual-implement the legacy Analytics for China (to use the add-on) or accept that data from Chinese web visitors will not be captured via the new unified SDK. Neither is ideal – the former adds complexity, the latter causes data loss – which is why this is a hot topic for Adobe customers with a global presence.

Any Roadmap for Web SDK Support in China?

Given the significance of the issue, one natural question is whether Adobe plans to address this gap. As of March 2024, there were no announced plans or dates for such support. Web SDK users should not expect a China data-centre solution to suddenly become available.

This isn’t to say Adobe is ignoring the issue – on the contrary, the need for China support has been acknowledged. For instance, multiple threads and ideas on Adobe’s forums have been logged by customers and partners, requesting China RDC support for Web SDK.

The lack of a solution likely stems from the complexity of setting up Experience Edge infrastructure in China, which involves not just technology but also compliance with Chinese regulations and perhaps partnership with local cloud providers. Adobe Analytics’ China add-on itself came with special contractual and infrastructure arrangements. Extending similar capabilities to the entire Experience Platform Edge Network (which the Web SDK uses) is a non-trivial undertaking.

From the absence of any public roadmap, we infer that Adobe is taking a cautious approach. It’s possible that future updates (perhaps Experience Edge enhancements or a new China-based edge node) could eventually enable Web SDK in China, but until you see an official announcement or documentation update, it’s safest to assume “Web SDK in China = not supported.” Organisations planning their AEP architectures should account for this limitation. For example, if China (or even users behind Chinese networks) are a part of your audience, you might need to retain legacy tracking for that segment or explore alternative data collection methods in the interim.

A Final Note

Operating Adobe Experience Platform Web SDK in China remains a challenge in 2025. The current state of affairs can be summarised as follows: you can host, but you cannot send.

Adobe provides a way to host your tag management library within mainland China (ensuring your Web SDK code loads properly for Chinese users), but the Web SDK’s data collection and personalisation calls still cannot reach Adobe’s Platform from behind the Great Firewall. The only Adobe-supported method for China data collection is the Adobe Analytics China add-on, which unfortunately does not extend to the new Web SDK or other Experience Cloud services.

For businesses, this means carefully planning your experience data strategy in China. In the absence of Web SDK support, you might need to continue using legacy tracking (Adobe Analytics AppMeasurement) for the Chinese version of your site or app, so that the China RDC add-on can capture those hits. If real-time personalisation (e.g. Journey Optimizer or Target) is needed in China, you may similarly need to explore older methods or even consider client-side logic, because the unified Edge network approach won’t work there yet.

On the question of “will this change soon?”, there is no public timeline.

As of now there’s no announced roadmap for full Web SDK support within China. Companies invested in AEP should keep an eye on Adobe’s release notes and Experience League updates for any developments. Until then, treating China as a special case – with either a split implementation or acceptance of data loss – is the prudent path.