A practical playbook for moving dailies, masters, and brand assets into and out of Mainland China—built around on‑shore storage, compliant cross‑border routes, and secure enterprise access.
For nationwide shoots with multiple legal entities, centralize approvals with our China video production fixer so city units and brand HQ are in sync.
| Use case | Recommended route | Tools | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dailies for editorial (onshore) | Keep data in Mainland China | Aliyun OSS / Tencent COS (mainland region) | Expiring links; role‑scoped access; on‑shore review links |
| Masters to overseas post | Cross‑border export | FTZ‑friendly or exempt routes per 2024 provisions | Choose SCC/certification/assessment if thresholds apply |
| Brand assets into China | Mirror to mainland region | Multipart upload + acceleration | Set CN mirror as source of truth for local teams |
| Third‑party agency handoff | Least‑privilege access | Temporary accounts; IP allowlist | Auto‑expire credentials post‑handoff |
We select a Mainland region (e.g., Hangzhou/Guangzhou) for low‑latency shares, and enable global or overseas accelerate endpoints when sending abroad.
Example: Aliyun OSS transfer acceleration and multipart uploads; Tencent COS region selection for South China workloads.
Expiring signed URLs, per‑project buckets, IP allowlists, and MFA. We also add object locks, checksum verification, and immutable audit logs for compliance‑heavy clients.
We deliver caption stacks and proxy/hi‑res splits through our post team, with documented file trees so HQ and China offices stay in sync.
China eased some cross‑border data transfer burdens in 2024 and clarified procedures in 2025. Many routine transfers (trade, logistics, non‑personal data) may be exempt; others use the Standard Contract, certification, or a CAC security assessment depending on thresholds and data types. Free Trade Zone negative lists and extended validity periods (now up to three years) can also help if you qualify.
We scope the route and build the evidence file; where production touches multiple provinces, a single approval spine keeps city units aligned. For location paperwork running in parallel, see our notes on China filming permits.
Some global file‑sharing tools are blocked in Mainland China, and even unblocked ones can be unreliable without on‑shore points of presence. Our workflows avoid blocked platforms, provide reliable China‑friendly alternatives, and ensure your stakeholders can download without friction—especially when tied to a local production hub like our Shanghai production company.
Set up twin buckets (CN + HK) with automatic mirroring, expiring links, and FTZ‑aligned export for quarterly masters. Result: predictable 48‑hour overseas handoff.
On‑shore dailies share; overseas editorial pulls via accelerated endpoints. Signed URL windows + IP allowlists for each agency account.
Need creative and production to dovetail with the file plan? Pair this with branded content and corporate video as needed; see also our companion explainer file sharing China.
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