Choose by audience, not by preference. Simplified Chinese is the standard written form in mainland China, and Traditional Chinese is the standard in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Chinese-speaking communities elsewhere, including in Australia, include readers of both, so the right answer depends on who you are actually trying to reach. If you can only afford one version, decide on the market that matters most, then label and tag it correctly.
The short version
| Audience | Usual written form | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland China | Simplified | Also the usual choice for Singapore and Malaysia |
| Taiwan | Traditional | Vocabulary and style also differ from the mainland |
| Hong Kong and Macau | Traditional | Spoken Cantonese is common, and written style can differ again |
| Diaspora communities (Australia, North America and elsewhere) | Mixed | Depends on where the community or individual originates |
These regional patterns are widely understood, but they are generalisations. Individuals read both, and your own customer data, such as where enquiries come from, is better evidence than any table.
It is not just a font change
Converting characters automatically from one script to the other can produce errors because vocabulary, terminology and phrasing differ between regions. A mainland product term may not be what a Taiwanese reader expects, and punctuation conventions and tone also vary. Treat each variant as a localisation task with a native reviewer, not a find-and-replace. See localisation vs translation for the broader distinction.
Other things that change with the market:
- Platforms and channels (see launching a brand across English- and Chinese-speaking markets).
- Brand names, which may need a separate version in each script and market (choosing a Chinese brand name).
- Currency, units, dates, payment methods and legal copy.
- Imagery, colour associations and casting.
Decision framework
- Identify the priority market. Where will most of your target customers be, and what do they read?
- Check your evidence. Look at analytics, enquiry sources and customer conversations for clues about origin and language.
- Pick the minimum viable set. One script for a single market is a legitimate start. Add the second when demand justifies it.
- Allow for both where reach is mixed. If you serve a broad Chinese-speaking audience, a version in each script avoids excluding half of it.
- Budget for review. Plan for a native reader in each target region to check the result.
Tag your pages correctly
Search engines and browsers need to know which version is which. Google’s guidance on localised versions explains that hreflang tells Google pages are versions of the same content, using a language code and optionally a region. For Chinese, the script can be derived from the country, as with zh-TW for Taiwan, or set explicitly with ISO 15924 codes: zh-Hant for Traditional and zh-Hans for Simplified. You can combine script and region, for example zh-Hans-US. It also recommends x-default as a fallback for unmatched languages (Google: Localized versions of your page).
On the page itself, use the lang attribute. The W3C advises using a script subtag only when it adds distinguishing information, such as when a language is written in more than one script, and notes that applications that used zh-CN for Mainland Chinese can continue to use zh in that way (W3C: Choosing language tags). In practice, Chinese is such a case, so zh-Hans and zh-Hant are the clearest tags for the two scripts.
Give each version its own URL (a folder such as /zh-hans/ is easy to manage), link versions to each other with reciprocal hreflang annotations, and avoid forcing visitors into a language based only on their IP address.
Common mistakes
- Using machine conversion between scripts and publishing without review.
- Assuming “Chinese” is a single audience.
- Hiding translated pages behind a language switcher that search engines cannot follow.
- Mixing scripts on one page without a reason.
- Forgetting fonts: check that your typefaces render both scripts well, and test on mobile.
When one version is enough
For a small business testing demand, one well-localised version is better than two weak ones. Start with the market most likely to convert, measure, then expand. How Australian brands can reach international audiences covers market prioritisation.
Where Radiance Impact fits
Radiance Impact works in English and Chinese, and its Global team supports localisation and adaptation of brand and campaign content. To discuss which version suits your audience, see /global/localisation or contact us.
Sources
- Localized versions of your page, Google Search Central
- Choosing language tags, W3C Internationalization
