Monetisation and distribution player PapayaMobile opened up its initiative to give international games developers access to China’s smartphone user base, to support other app developers, advertisers and brands.

The Gateway to China programme uses PapayaMobile’s AppFlood mobile ad network to reach more than 450 million smartphone users in China, 95 per cent of the total.

New members of the programme can potentially receive up to 900,000 new Chinese users per day for their apps, the company said.

Data shows that 37 per cent of all ads served on AppFlood in September came from China-based partners, which include Qihoo 260, Baidu 91, Xiaomi, China Mobile and China Telecom.

The programme was first launched in 2011, to help developers get a foothold in the Chinese mobile market, with support from PapayaMobile’s team in Beijing.

According to PapayaMobile CEO Si Shen, the Chinese mobile market differs fundamentally from the rest of the world.

Although Android is the dominant OS, the majority of devices comes without access to Google Play. This means western advertisers must deal with a complex group of mobile distribution channels as there are no traditional mobile ad networks to work with.

“Without the presence of a local partner in China, this can be almost impossible. AppFlood’s unique combination of a global infrastructure and a wide-reaching network of Chinese partners, content providers, and distribution channels solves this problem for developers, advertisers, and brands wanting to expand into China,” Shen explained.

AppFlood was launched for Android in July 2012, with iOS support arriving in August this year. More than 290 million mobile devices are now connected to the platform, according to PapayaMobile.

Another approach PapayaMobile is using to help developers gain ground in China is enabling direct operator billing for in-app purchase made by China Mobile customers.