Chinese Skykiwi website to go mobile

Mobile advertising is growing at Skykiwi, but not radically. It is focused on detailed Chinese script that was harder to read on mobile, she said. Photo / Thinkstock

New Zealand's biggest Chinese website, Skykiwi, is adjusting to the new ways in which people are accessing media.

Operations manager Dorathy Li said mobile phones would fully replace the website that has been running since 2000 to help newly arrived Chinese students.

All media are adjusting to a worldwide shift from websites to tablets and mobile.

Li said the company had developed mobile apps of the main site and restaurant review site Zomato.

Mobile advertising is growing at Skykiwi, but not radically. It is focused on detailed Chinese script that was harder to read on mobile, she said.

Commercial investors had bought out the website's student founders in 2004 and Skykiwi hit its straps commercially in 2006.

The company has 30 staff in Auckland, although around 40 per cent of unique users are from outside the city.

It aims to become more of a bridge between the Asian and non-Asian communities and Li said its key role was to provide news and information to Chinese people who needed to overcome the language barrier.

The Chinese community of just 171,000 people sustains advertising for several newspapers or advertising sheets and TV channels.

Skykiwi spokesman Robbie Peng said the Chinese view of advertising was different, and was open to a more porous border between information and paid advertising.

Website users wanted more detailed information and were grateful when it was provided by advertisers.

According to the online survey firm Alexa Internet and Google Analytics, Skykiwi has 230,000 registered users and 80,000 visits per day.

The 2013 Census shows Chinese people make up 36.3 per cent of the Asian population, which in turn makes up 11.1 per cent of the overall population.

Peng said Skykiwi was focused on the Chinese and other Asian communities but was also eager to blend in with the local community. The company last week attended a meeting of the New Zealand Asian Leaders forum at SkyCity sponsored by NZME, publisher of the Herald.