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Yi Luo

US cloud computing and cybersecurity firm Akamai Technologies’ content delivery network (CDN) services in mainland China will cease from the second half of next year, the company said in a recent letter to customers, becoming the latest foreign tech firm to scale back operations in the country amid geopolitical headwinds.
“Effective June 30, 2026, all China CDN services will reach their decommission date,” the Akamai letter said. “After this date, any remaining content requests will be automatically served from neighbouring countries, unless a country-specific partner solution is activated.”
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said it has struck partnerships with Tencent Holdings’ cloud services unit and Wangsu Science & Technology as mainland CDN providers “to ensure a smooth and efficient transition” for customers.
That means Akamai is now reselling the CDN and security offerings of Tencent Cloud and Wangsu within mainland China ahead of the announced deactivation date, ending the two-decade run of that business in the world’s second-largest economy.
“All current China CDN customers must complete the transition to our partners’ solution by June 30, 2026, to maintain uninterrupted service,” Akamai said. The US firm assured customers that it is “actively collaborating with Wangsu to develop comprehensive migration and ongoing support offerings”.

The US company’s retreat from CDN operations in China follows a broader trend of global tech firms scaling back their operations in the country amid the market’s push for greater tech self-sufficiency.
IBM, for example, last year closed its China Development Lab and China Systems Lab, while laying off more than 1,000 employees in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and the northern port city of Dalian, according to reports by local news outlets.
Sweeping job cuts last year also affected various China-based workers of multinational companies, from Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson and electric vehicle maker Tesla to e-commerce behemoth Amazon.com and semiconductor firm Intel.
In its letter to customers, Akamai neither provided a reason for closing its CDN services on the mainland nor an explanation for the year-and-a-half-long transition by its enterprise customers.
“To clarify, Akamai is transitioning its mainland China CDN delivery solution for multinational companies doing business in the country to local partners,” a company representative said on Tuesday. “Akamai continues to be committed to China and is not exiting China. The Chinese market is important to Akamai and we have always been the trusted partner to both large and small companies in China.”

“We continue to operate in and support businesses in China, and comply with regulations and laws of the countries we operate,” the representative added. “Akamai is a partner for companies in China going overseas, and we have a rich heritage we can rely on to support our customers and partners.”
Akamai chief executive Tom Leighton said in an earlier statement that the company’s CDN business, which accounts for a third of its revenue, faces challenges owing to “macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds”.
Cloud computing technology enables enterprises to manage or distribute over the internet a range of software and other digital resources as an on-demand service, just like electricity from a power grid. These resources are stored inside data centres.
CDN services rely on caching online content – including web pages, images and video – in data centres near a customer’s physical location, which speeds up the access and secure delivery of such content.
Akamai, which handles up to 30 per cent of global web traffic, currently has a substantial presence in China, with large clients that include short-video platform operator Kuaishou Technology and mainland video-streaming giant iQiyi.


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Partners Tencent Cloud and Wangsu Science & Technology to ‘ensure smooth transition’ for Akamai’s content delivery network users in China


Partners Tencent Cloud and Wangsu Science & Technology to ‘ensure smooth transition’ for Akamai’s content delivery network users in China.


US cloud services firm Akamai to cease CDN operations in China by June 2026

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Partners Tencent Cloud and Wangsu Science & Technology to ‘ensure smooth transition’ for Akamai’s content delivery network users in China

Partners Tencent Cloud and Wangsu Science & Technology to ‘ensure smooth transition’ for Akamai’s content delivery network users in China