Change your China marketing agency: the handover checklist

The reports stopped making sense, or the results stalled, and you want out. If you plan to change your China marketing agency, the weeks before you say so are the most useful ones. Use them to find out what you actually control.

In China, a social account belongs to whichever company passed the platform’s verification. Ad money sits in prepaid balances with their own refund rules. Content belongs to whoever the contract says, and if the contract says nothing, the law gives it to the maker. A termination letter changes none of that.

Here is where each asset usually sits, and how you get it back. Every platform rule below was checked twice against the platform’s own pages in October 2026.

Asset	Who usually holds it	How you get it back
WeChat Official Account	The company that passed verification	Admin change if verified on your license; migration if not
Douyin and Weibo accounts	The verified entity	Only with the platform’s consent, and usually the agency’s help
Ad accounts	Your entity or the agency’s	Admin access if in your name; otherwise a platform ruling
Ad balance	The platform, as prepaid credit	Cash refund; unspent bonus credit is lost
Content and source files	The agency, unless the contract says otherwise	A written copyright assignment and file delivery
Creator relationships	The agency’s address book	Your platform order history and a creator list
Followers	The account, never a spreadsheet	Keep the account; an ID export does not move followers

Before you change your China marketing agency: five things to secure

Once notice is out, every request depends on the old agency’s goodwill. Do the quiet work first.

• An account register: every account on every platform, with the company name that passed verification. On WeChat it shows in the account’s entity information.
• The admin’s identity. Find out whose personal WeChat is the admin on the Official Account (it is always a person, not a company). If it belongs to an agency employee, plan the change now.
• A balance statement for each ad account, split into cash, bonus credit and any credit line.
• The contract’s notice period and copyright clause. If there’s no copyright clause, the default works against you.
• Your creator history: every creator order placed in your name, with the usage rights you paid for.

Who actually owns your WeChat Official Account

Strictly speaking, Tencent does. The WeChat (微信) agreement says so plainly.

Tencent owns every Official Account. The right to use it belongs to the entity that passed the qualification review, and gifting, lending, renting, transferring or selling that right is prohibited. Source: Tencent (腾讯), WeChat Official Account Platform service agreement, clause 6.1, confirmed October 2026. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/cgi-bin/readtemplate?lang=zh_CN&t=home%2Fagreement_tmpl&token=&type=info

So which entity passed review? If it was your company, the account is yours to use, and the handover is mostly a change of admin.

To change the admin on a company account, the current admin first scans a code with their WeChat. Then the new admin’s ID and phone number are entered and verified. Source: Tencent customer service (腾讯客服), admin information change guide, confirmed October 2026. https://kf.qq.com/faq/120911VrYVrA150527bmIVJZ.html

What if the agency’s admin won’t scan? If your company is the verified entity, Tencent’s account recovery process swaps the admin’s WeChat, the operator’s ID details and the login email together.

If the agency’s company passed verification, the account is the agency’s to use. You cannot be handed it. What you can do is migrate its followers and articles into an account your company owns.

An overseas account can migrate to a mainland China account or to an account in the same overseas region. A mainland account cannot migrate to an overseas one, and an Official Account (formerly a subscription account) cannot migrate to a service account. Source: Tencent customer service (腾讯客服), account migration guide, confirmed October 2026. https://kf.qq.com/faq/170221uQ7Vz2170221ZzIZv6.html

That rule hurts foreign brands most. If your company only exists overseas, a mainland account verified by your agency cannot move into it. You would need a mainland entity of your own to receive it.

Don’t assume the agency acted in bad faith. Tencent’s rules for overseas companies are tight.

An overseas entity can register one account, overseas regions support the service account type only, and the account works only after verification. Source: Tencent customer service (腾讯客服), overseas service account registration guide, confirmed October 2026. https://kf.qq.com/faq/180312zQjeYV180312FNNbmA.html

Plenty of agencies verified on their own license because it was the quick way to launch. The brand was glad of it at the time. Followers piled up on the agency’s license. Nobody revisited the setup, because nothing was wrong with it.

The problem only shows when you try to leave.

When migration is possible, it needs the agency’s signature.

Migration between different entities costs a 300 yuan review fee, needs a notarized application letter, and both admins must confirm. The target account can have no more than 1,000 followers if all followers move, and the old account is reclaimed. Source: Tencent customer service (腾讯客服), account migration guide, confirmed October 2026. https://kf.qq.com/faq/170221uQ7Vz2170221ZzIZv6.html

Other platforms work the same way. Douyin’s (抖音) enterprise account agreement, in force since August 2026, bans transfer without the platform’s approval. Weibo (微博) bans it without Weibo’s consent, and adds a lock of its own.

Weibo routes an overseas-to-overseas entity change to the overseas agent that served the account at verification. Source: Sina Weibo customer service (新浪微博客服), enterprise entity change rules, confirmed October 2026. https://kefu.weibo.com/faqdetail?id=21369

So the agent that verified your Weibo account has to take part in any move.

Our guide on whether you need a Chinese entity to run social media in China covers registration in more depth.

Who owns your ad accounts and the money left in them

As with social accounts, what matters is whose company opened it. Tencent leaves that choice to you.

A client may run its own Tencent ad account, or entrust it to a third party such as a service provider or agency. Source: Tencent Marketing (腾讯营销), service provider cooperation agreement, confirmed October 2026. https://ad.qq.com/customer_service_cgi/v1/agreement/show?agreement_type=5

If the account is in your name, take admin access and keep it. If it is in the agency’s name, the agency is the account holder. Moving it to your new agency may not be possible: neither Tencent nor Ocean Engine (巨量引擎) publishes a general rule. Get the platform’s answer in writing before you plan around it.

Refunds come with conditions. On Tencent, every ad must be offline first.

Before applying for a refund, all ads must be offline. The money returns by the original payment route. Source: Tencent customer service (腾讯客服), advertiser refund guide, confirmed October 2026. https://kf.qq.com/faq/170214jyaU3y170214eEFJRb.html

That second line matters. If the agency topped up the account, the cash goes back to the agency. Agree in writing how it reaches you.

Ocean Engine, the ad platform behind Douyin (抖音), goes further. A refund ends the account.

Applying for a balance refund closes the advertiser account and freezes the cash balance. Grant balance is cleared once the refund is approved. Source: Ocean Engine (巨量引擎), refund help page, confirmed October 2026. https://www.oceanengine.com/help/622

Then there’s the bonus credit.

Balance type	Tencent Ads	Ocean Engine
Cash you topped up	Refundable, original route	Refundable, account closes
Rebate or bonus credit	Not refundable	Cleared on refund
Credit line	Not refundable	Not refundable

Tencent’s advertiser agreement says the non-cash part of an account, including rebates and credit, is not refundable. Source: Tencent Ads (腾讯广告), advertiser cooperation agreement, confirmed October 2026. https://e.qq.com/contract.html

So spend the bonus before you switch, or accept losing it. Ask for the statement early, because a balance that looks large can be mostly bonus.

Your content, source files and Chinese copy

Here the contract matters more than any platform rule. Chinese copyright law gives commissioned work to the maker unless the contract says otherwise.

For a commissioned work, the contract decides who owns the copyright. If the contract is silent or there is no contract, copyright belongs to the party that made the work. Source: National Copyright Administration (国家版权局), Copyright Law of the People’s Republic of China, Article 19, as amended November 2020. https://www.ncac.gov.cn/xxfb/flfg/flfg_532/202103/t20210309_50530.html

Published posts are not the issue. Reuse is. Without an assignment, the designs and videos you paid for may not be yours to edit and run again. Nor may the Chinese copy.

Ask for a copyright assignment that covers everything made under the contract. Next come the source files, from layered designs to raw footage. And don’t skip the working documents. They hold the Chinese keyword lists and the approved product claims, plus the glossary of how your brand terms are translated. Without them, a new agency starts from zero.

If the agency won’t assign copyright, ask at least for a written license to edit and reuse the work, with no end date.

Creator content is a separate case.

On Xingtu (星图), copyright in a video a creator makes for an order stays with the creator. Ad-use authorization is free by default and the creator’s authorization is long-term. Source: Ocean Engine (巨量引擎), Xingtu help center, pages updated May and June 2026. https://www.xingtu.cn/help-center/demander/109120 and https://www.xingtu.cn/help-center/demander/139122

So for creator content on Xingtu, Douyin’s creator marketplace, what you hold is a usage right, not the copyright. List each right with its scope and end date.

Your KOC and KOL relationships

KOLs are the big-name creators. KOCs are everyday users with small, loyal followings. An agency’s contacts with both are part of what it sells, so don’t expect them. What you can keep is the history of work done in your name.

On Xiaohongshu (小红书), that history sits in Pugongying (蒲公英), the platform’s creator marketplace.

An agency can start a collaboration in a brand’s name only with the brand’s clear consent. The brand can stop or change the authorization at any time, and stopping takes effect at once. Source: Xiaohongshu Pugongying help center (小红书蒲公英帮助中心), agency brand authorization manual, August 2026. https://pgy.xiaohongshu.com/help/home

Stopping it blocks new orders only. Orders already placed carry on, so agree who sees each live order through to publication before you end it.

Before you switch, build a creator list: each creator, platform, order date, fee, content link and the usage rights you hold. With it, the next agency can rebook the people who worked.

The follower list problem: an export cannot move followers

Can you export a follower list and use it to move followers to another account? No. The export contains account-specific IDs.

The follower list is a list of OpenIDs, encrypted IDs that are unique to each user for each Official Account. Source: WeChat Open Docs (微信开放文档), follower list API, confirmed October 2026. https://developers.weixin.qq.com/doc/service/api/usermanage/userinfo/api_getfans.html

On WeChat (微信), an OpenID means nothing outside its own account. Your followers move only when the account stays with you, or through Tencent’s migration process.

Private contacts are a separate problem: the customers your team chats with one to one. If they sit in a WeCom (企业微信) organization your company owns, you can reassign them when staff change.

A company can move an active employee’s customers and customer groups to a colleague. The customer and the new member become contacts automatically after 24 hours. Source: WeCom help center (企业微信帮助中心), active employee reassignment guide, September 2026. https://open.work.weixin.qq.com/help2/pc/14704

If the agency ran customer chats from its own WeCom organization, or from staff personal WeChat accounts, those relationships remain under the agency’s control. You cannot assume they will move with your contract.

The 30-day handover checklist

If you read only one part of this page, make it this table. Run it from the day you give notice. It covers WeChat (微信), the ad platforms and Pugongying (蒲公英).

Days	Task	Who	Done when
1 to 3	Send written notice listing everything to return	You	Agency confirms receipt
1 to 3	Change the WeChat admin to your own staff	Both	Your person scans in
1 to 5	Remove agency operators from every account	You	No agency staff left
3 to 7	Get balance statements: cash, bonus, credit	Agency	Statement matches the dashboard
3 to 10	End Pugongying and other creator authorizations	You	Authorization shows ended
5 to 10	Collect source files and working documents	Agency	Files open on your drive
5 to 14	Sign the copyright assignment	Both	Signed copy on file
7 to 21	Begin WeChat migration if the agency verified	Both	Both admins confirmed
10 to 21	Spend bonus credit or request cash refunds	You	Refund approved or credit used
14 to 30	Brief the incoming agency with the full register	You	New agency confirms access
30	Recheck every login, admin and operator	You	Nothing left in agency hands

Questions to ask the incoming agency

Ask these before you sign.

• Whose company will verify any new account? It should be yours.
• Will ad accounts open in your name, with you as admin?
• Who pays the platform when the account is topped up? If you pay it directly, a refund comes back to you.
• Who will be the admin on the Official Account, and who are the operators?
• Does the contract assign you the copyright in everything it makes?
• The exit clause. Read what it says about returning files and access.
• Where will customer contacts sit: your WeCom (企业微信), or theirs?

Get the fee and the exit terms in the same document. Our guide to China marketing agency pricing compares the fee models, and our pricing page publishes our own rate card in full.

What a clean handover looks like

In a clean handover, nothing is left to chase. Your staff hold the admin role everywhere, and every account was verified on your license. Each ad account lists your company, and you know which part of the balance is cash. Your drive holds the source files, a signed copyright assignment and a creator list with rights and end dates.

The new agency gets its access from you, not from the old one.

FAQ

Who owns my WeChat Official Account, me or my agency?

Tencent owns every WeChat (微信) Official Account. The right to use it belongs to the company that passed verification. If that was yours, change the admin and keep it. If it was the agency’s, direct transfer is banned. Migration to your own account may be possible under Tencent’s rules, with the agency’s cooperation and a notarized letter.

Can I transfer a Chinese ad account to a new agency?

No general transfer rule was found in Tencent’s or Ocean Engine’s published guidance. If your company holds the account, changing agency access may be enough. If the agency holds it, get the platform’s ruling first. Check cash refund conditions separately, and remember that bonus credit is not cash. Do not close the account before that review.

How long does an agency handover take in China?

Plan on about 30 days. The admin change requires the old admin’s scan, plus the new admin’s identity and phone verification. Tencent puts an account migration at 7 to 10 days, notary stage included. Each Ocean Engine (巨量引擎) refund review stage takes a working day or two. What drags is collecting files and signatures, and that depends on the old agency.

Planning a switch?

Before you give notice, let us audit what you hold. Send your account register through our contact page, or bring it to a call. We’ll tell you what is yours today and what needs a signature to get back.