Entering the Chinese market through Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) represents a significant opportunity for brands looking to tap into one of the world’s largest consumer markets. With over 200 million monthly active users and exceptional engagement rates, this influential platform offers unparalleled access to China’s fashion-forward, trend-conscious consumers. However, many brands encounter a common roadblock: ad rejections.

At Hashmeta, we’ve guided more than 1,000 brands through the complexities of Asian digital platforms, including Xiaohongshu’s notoriously strict advertising approval process. Our data shows that approximately 40% of first-time Xiaohongshu ad submissions face rejection—often leaving marketing teams frustrated and uncertain about what went wrong.

Understanding why your advertisements are being rejected is the first step toward creating campaigns that resonate with both Xiaohongshu’s guidelines and its discerning user base. This comprehensive guide examines the ten most common reasons for Xiaohongshu ad rejections, offering data-driven insights and actionable solutions developed by our team of specialists who navigate these challenges daily for international brands.

Understanding Xiaohongshu Advertising Guidelines

Xiaohongshu operates under a unique set of advertising rules that reflect both Chinese regulatory requirements and the platform’s own community-centric philosophy. Unlike Western social media platforms, Xiaohongshu prioritizes authentic user experiences and maintains particularly strict standards to preserve its reputation as a trusted recommendation platform.

The platform’s review process evaluates ads across multiple dimensions, including legal compliance, cultural sensitivity, content authenticity, and technical specifications. This multi-layered review system exists to maintain the delicate balance between commercial content and the platform’s core identity as a space for genuine user-generated content.

Our Xiaohongshu Marketing specialists have identified that successful ads on the platform generally share three key characteristics: they maintain a UGC-inspired aesthetic, they provide genuine value to users, and they carefully adhere to both explicit and implicit platform rules. With this foundational understanding, let’s explore the specific rejection reasons that brands most frequently encounter.

Reason 1: Prohibited Product Categories

One of the most straightforward reasons for ad rejection is advertising products that fall within Xiaohongshu’s prohibited categories. The platform maintains a comprehensive list of restricted goods and services that either violate Chinese regulations or conflict with Xiaohongshu’s community standards.

Common Prohibited Categories

While not exhaustive, these product categories consistently face automatic rejection:

• Prescription medications and certain health supplements
• Financial investment products and cryptocurrency
• Gambling services or related content
• Tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and vaping accessories
• Medical devices without proper certification
• Dating services that emphasize physical attributes

Solution and Best Practices

Before developing any advertising strategy for Xiaohongshu, thoroughly research whether your product category has explicit restrictions. For borderline categories, our consulting team recommends focusing marketing efforts on adjacent, compliant product lines or repositioning your offering to emphasize approved aspects of your brand.

For example, a wellness brand unable to directly advertise certain supplements could instead create content around lifestyle, nutrition, and general wellbeing, indirectly building brand recognition while remaining compliant with platform policies.

Reason 2: Misleading or Exaggerated Claims

Xiaohongshu places exceptional emphasis on trust and authenticity—a reflection of its origins as a platform for honest product recommendations. Consequently, advertisements containing hyperbolic language or unsubstantiated claims frequently trigger rejections during the review process.

Common Rejection Triggers

Our analysis of rejected ads reveals several recurring language patterns that typically raise red flags for Xiaohongshu’s reviewers:

• Absolute terms like “best,” “perfect,” or “guaranteed”
• Time-sensitive pressure tactics such as “limited time only” without specific deadlines
• Dramatic transformation claims, particularly for beauty or wellness products
• Statements suggesting universal effectiveness (“works for everyone”)
• Comparative claims without verifiable data

Solution and Best Practices

Adopt a more measured, authentic tone in your advertising copy. Focus on specific, verifiable product attributes rather than subjective superiority claims. Where possible, incorporate user testimonials and actual consumer experiences, which align with the platform’s user-generated content ethos.

Our Content Marketing team has found that ads featuring specific numerical data (“27% more hydration based on clinical testing”) perform better in the approval process than those making general claims (“the most hydrating formula ever”). This approach not only increases approval rates but also resonates more effectively with Xiaohongshu’s discerning audience.

Reason 3: Copyright Infringement Issues

Intellectual property violations represent a significant concern for both Chinese regulators and Xiaohongshu’s moderation team. Advertisements containing unauthorized use of copyrighted materials—including images, music, or distinctive brand elements—face swift rejection.

Common Infringement Scenarios

During our work with international brands, we’ve identified several recurring copyright issues that frequently lead to ad disapproval:

• Using stock photography without proper licensing documentation
• Including background music from popular artists without rights clearance
• Featuring celebrities or influencers without formal permission
• Comparative marketing that shows competitor products or logos
• Incorporating recognizable design elements from other brands

Solution and Best Practices

Maintain meticulous records of all content licensing and permissions. For images and music, use only properly licensed assets or create original content specifically for your campaigns. When featuring influencers or celebrities, ensure you have written permission for their likeness to appear in paid advertisements, not just organic content.

Our marketing services team recommends developing China-specific creative assets that avoid potential copyright complications from international campaigns. This approach not only mitigates approval risks but often results in content that better resonates with the local audience.

Reason 4: Inappropriate Visual Content

Visual content on Xiaohongshu must navigate both explicit platform guidelines and implicit cultural expectations. Images or videos that might be acceptable on Western social media platforms can trigger rejections on Xiaohongshu due to different standards regarding modesty, aesthetics, and cultural sensitivity.

Visual Elements That Trigger Rejections

Through our extensive experience with cross-cultural marketing, we’ve identified specific visual elements that consistently lead to ad disapproval:

• Excessive skin exposure, particularly in beauty or fashion advertising
• Before/after imagery that appears digitally manipulated
• Depictions of certain religious symbols or politically sensitive imagery
• Visuals suggesting luxury or extravagance that could conflict with government values
• Graphic representations of medical procedures or conditions

Solution and Best Practices

Develop visual content specifically for the Chinese market, taking into account both formal regulations and cultural nuances. Our team recommends adopting a more conservative approach to imagery than you might use in Western markets, particularly regarding models’ attire and lifestyle depictions.

When creating visual assets, consider working with China-based photographers or designers who inherently understand these boundaries. Our AI Marketing capabilities can also help analyze existing visual content to identify potential red flags before submission, significantly improving first-time approval rates.

Reason 5: Non-Compliant Landing Pages

Xiaohongshu’s review process extends beyond the ad creative itself to include destination URLs and landing pages. Many advertisers overlook this critical aspect, focusing exclusively on the ad content while neglecting to ensure their landing pages meet platform standards.

Common Landing Page Issues

Our digital specialists have identified several recurring issues with landing pages that frequently result in ad rejection:

• Landing pages hosted outside mainland China with slow loading speeds
• Pages containing different claims than those made in the advertisement
• Inconsistent branding between the ad and destination page
• Required legal information missing (business licenses, privacy policies)
• Functionality issues on mobile devices

Solution and Best Practices

For optimal results, develop China-specific landing pages hosted on local servers or through approved Chinese cloud services. Ensure perfect alignment between ad content and landing page messaging, and verify that all required legal information is prominently displayed.

Our SEO Agency team recommends implementing accelerated mobile pages (AMP) or similar technologies to ensure rapid loading times, as page speed is a significant factor in both approval decisions and post-approval performance. Additionally, conduct thorough testing across multiple devices to ensure consistent functionality before submitting advertisements.

Reason 6: Inadequate Account Qualifications

Xiaohongshu maintains strict requirements regarding advertiser verification and account history. Many rejections occur not because of the ad content itself, but due to issues with the advertising account’s standing or documentation.

Account Qualification Requirements

Through managing numerous client campaigns, we’ve identified several account-related factors that can lead to automatic ad rejection:

• Incomplete business verification documentation
• Recently created accounts with limited platform history
• Previous policy violations or content removals
• Inconsistencies between business information and ad content
• Insufficient account activity or engagement

Solution and Best Practices

Begin by ensuring your business verification process is complete, with all required licenses and permits properly submitted and approved. For new accounts, our consulting team recommends establishing an organic presence before launching paid campaigns—ideally maintaining regular posting for at least 2-3 months before attempting advertising.

If you’ve experienced previous content removals, address any outstanding issues and maintain strict compliance for a period before resubmitting advertisements. In some cases, working with an established agency partner like Hashmeta can help overcome account history challenges through our experience with the platform’s requirements.

Reason 7: Improper Ad Formatting

Xiaohongshu’s advertising system enforces specific technical requirements for creative assets. Advertisements that don’t conform to these specifications are commonly rejected, regardless of their content quality or compliance with other guidelines.

Format Specifications That Matter

Our technical team has identified several formatting issues that consistently trigger rejections:

• Incorrect image dimensions or aspect ratios
• Video length exceeding platform maximums
• Text overlays exceeding the 20% rule (similar to early Facebook guidelines)
• Low resolution or compressed visual assets
• Improper use of Xiaohongshu’s native ad templates

Solution and Best Practices

Create advertising assets specifically tailored to Xiaohongshu’s technical specifications rather than repurposing materials from other platforms. Our marketing technology team maintains updated templates that conform to the platform’s current requirements, ensuring technical compliance.

For video content, keep durations between 15-60 seconds for optimal approval rates and performance, with text overlays comprising less than 20% of the total visual area. Always use high-definition assets, as the platform’s predominantly young, urban audience has high expectations for visual quality.

Reason 8: Sensitive Keywords or Phrases

Xiaohongshu’s content moderation system flags advertisements containing certain keywords or phrases that may violate platform policies or Chinese regulations. Many brands encounter rejections due to seemingly innocuous language that carries different implications in the Chinese context.

Categories of Sensitive Language

Our linguistic specialists have identified several categories of terminology that frequently trigger content flags:

• Comparative language suggesting superiority over competitors
• Health-related terms implying medical efficacy without certification
• Financial terminology suggesting guaranteed returns or investment opportunities
• Words related to restricted industries (gambling, cryptocurrency)
• Terms with potential political or cultural sensitivity in China

Solution and Best Practices

Before submitting advertisements, conduct thorough keyword audits using locally-relevant tools rather than relying on direct translations. Our AI Marketing systems can scan ad copy to identify potentially problematic terms and suggest alternatives that maintain your message while avoiding rejection triggers.

When translating Western marketing materials, work with native Chinese speakers who understand both linguistic and cultural nuances, as literal translations often miss contextual implications. This approach not only improves approval rates but enhances the cultural resonance of your messaging.

Reason 9: Insufficient Proof for Claims

Xiaohongshu requires advertisers to substantiate product claims, particularly for categories like beauty, health, nutrition, and wellness. Advertisements making specific performance claims without adequate supporting evidence face rejection during review.

Types of Claims Requiring Verification

Based on our experience with multiple product categories, these claims typically require substantiation:

• Quantified performance metrics (“reduces appearance of wrinkles by 30%”)
• Ingredient effectiveness claims (“Vitamin C brightens skin”)
• Comparative assertions against other products or methods
• Health-related benefits or outcomes
• Certification or award claims (“award-winning formula”)

Solution and Best Practices

Maintain a comprehensive evidence portfolio for all advertised claims, including clinical studies, laboratory testing, certification documentation, and relevant licenses. Our SEO service team recommends preparing this documentation before creating ad content to ensure all claims remain within provable parameters.

When submitting advertisements, proactively include relevant supporting documentation in the notes section of your submission, even when not explicitly requested. For beauty and skincare products particularly, consider obtaining China-specific testing results, as these carry greater weight in the review process than international certifications.

Reason 10: Technical Specification Violations

Beyond creative formatting issues, Xiaohongshu maintains specific technical requirements for advertisement functionality, tracking parameters, and technology integration. These technical violations often cause rejections that can be difficult to diagnose without specialized knowledge.

Common Technical Violations

Our technical implementation team regularly addresses these specification issues:

• Incorrect implementation of tracking pixels or attribution parameters
• Unapproved third-party tracking technologies
• Broken links or redirects within the advertising journey
• Non-compliant data collection practices
• Excessive page load resources affecting performance

Solution and Best Practices

Utilize Xiaohongshu’s native tracking and measurement tools whenever possible instead of relying solely on external technologies. When third-party tracking is necessary, ensure it’s implemented according to platform guidelines and validated through Xiaohongshu’s testing tools before submission.

Our AI marketing agency team recommends conducting thorough technical audits of the complete user journey—from ad impression to final conversion point—to identify potential technical issues before they trigger rejections. This preventative approach dramatically improves first-time approval rates for technically complex campaigns.

Advanced Strategies for Xiaohongshu Ad Approval

Beyond addressing specific rejection reasons, our experience across hundreds of Xiaohongshu campaigns has revealed several strategic approaches that significantly improve approval rates and overall campaign effectiveness.

Leverage Platform-Native Content Styles

Advertisements that mimic Xiaohongshu’s organic content aesthetic consistently achieve higher approval rates. Our Influencer Marketing Agency recommends studying high-performing organic posts in your category and adapting their visual style, content structure, and tone for advertising materials.

This approach not only improves approval likelihood but enhances post-approval performance metrics, as users respond more favorably to advertisements that feel native to their browsing experience.

Implement A/B Testing Pre-Submission

Before submitting advertisements platform-wide, use small-scale testing to identify potential approval issues. Our data shows that running limited tests with multiple creative variations can identify rejection triggers before committing to full-scale campaigns.

By leveraging our AI marketing tools to analyze test results, we can refine creative elements to optimize both approval rates and post-approval performance, saving clients both time and budget while improving outcomes.

Develop China-Specific Brand Guidelines

Brands consistently succeeding on Xiaohongshu maintain separate creative guidelines specifically for the Chinese market. Rather than simply translating global marketing materials, develop China-specific assets that account for local preferences, cultural nuances, and platform-specific requirements.

Our SEO Consultant team works with brands to create these specialized guidelines, ensuring consistency across campaigns while maintaining compliance with Xiaohongshu’s evolving requirements.

Conclusion

Successfully navigating Xiaohongshu’s advertising approval process requires a nuanced understanding of both explicit guidelines and implicit cultural expectations. The ten rejection reasons outlined in this guide represent the most common hurdles brands encounter when entering this unique and valuable platform.

By proactively addressing these potential issues—from prohibited product categories to technical specification violations—brands can dramatically improve their approval rates and accelerate their entry into the Chinese consumer market. However, the Xiaohongshu landscape continues to evolve, with platform policies and user expectations constantly shifting in response to regulatory changes and market trends.

At Hashmeta, our team of 50+ digital marketing specialists maintains real-time knowledge of these changes, helping brands stay ahead of potential rejection triggers while optimizing campaign performance. Whether you’re just beginning your Xiaohongshu journey or looking to refine your existing strategy, developing a thorough understanding of the platform’s approval mechanisms is essential for sustainable success.

As China’s digital ecosystem continues to grow in importance for global brands, mastering platforms like Xiaohongshu becomes increasingly vital for international marketing success. By combining technical compliance with culturally relevant content, brands can not only gain approval for their advertisements but truly connect with Chinese consumers in meaningful, profitable ways.

Ready to overcome Xiaohongshu advertising challenges and reach China’s valuable consumer market? Hashmeta’s dedicated team of specialists combines platform expertise, cultural insights, and technical knowledge to streamline your approval process and optimize your campaign performance.

Contact us today to discuss your Xiaohongshu marketing goals and discover how our data-driven approach can transform your brand’s presence in the Chinese digital landscape.