AdQuick aggregates Beijing's 18,000+ digital screens -- the CBD, Sanlitun, Wangfujing, PEK and PKX airports, and the Beijing Subway -- into a single buy. Programmatic CPMs CNY 30-220+ on CBD spectaculars; activate from CNY 15,000 on DSPs, seven-figure Sanlitun and Olympic-corridor takeovers available.
Typical DOOH CPMs range from ¥20–¥80 for elevator and metro D6s to ¥250–¥1,200+ for premium Wangfujing and Sanlitun LED spectaculars. Programmatic accessible from ¥15,000–¥50,000 (USD $2,000–$7,000) test budgets via cross-border DSPs.
DOOH Advertising in Beijing: Inventory, Costs & Programmatic Guide
Digital out of home advertising in Beijing covers an estimated 120,000+ digital screens across Beijing Metro, PEK and PKX airports, the Wangfujing pedestrian corridor, Sanlitun/Tongying Center LED spectaculars, CBD/Chaoyang office towers, Focus Media elevator networks in 15,000+ residential and Grade-A office buildings, and the high-speed rail hubs at Beijing South, West, and Chaoyang.
Beijing DOOH inventory is defined by venue environment, not creative format. The four layers below cover the full landscape — from iconic landmark LEDs to captive-dwell elevator networks.
Wangfujing Street LED spectaculars, Sanlitun/Tongying Center landmark LEDs, and CBD/Chaoyang skyline mega-format displays — the iconic, tourist, and luxury-shopper canvases of Beijing.
Beijing Metro (27 lines, 490+ stations, platform D6s, in-train LCD, tunnel LEDs, station dominations), PEK Capital Airport, PKX Daxing Airport, and high-speed rail at Beijing South/West/Chaoyang/Qinghe.
Bus shelters and street furniture (JCDecaux China concessions), taxi digital and rideshare toppers, and expressway / ring road digital across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei corridor.
Focus Media residential and Grade-A office elevator LCD networks (15,000+ buildings), premium malls (SKP, China World, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, Parkview Green), and cinemas, gyms, bars, and convenience stores.
DOOH pricing in Beijing depends on venue type, format, daypart, campaign duration, and buying model. Four pricing models are in active use.
Cost per thousand impressions. Increasingly dominant for programmatic DOOH and cross-border programmatic buys. Range: ¥20–¥1,200+ depending on venue.
Weekly package. Dominant for premium Wangfujing, Sanlitun, and CBD landmark LED spectaculars where impression measurement is less granular.
Used on Focus Media elevator networks, some metro digital, and place-based screens where the loop and slot count are the natural unit.
Fixed impression count at a negotiated CPM, delivered via DSP against a reserved deal ID — the path JCDecaux pioneered with the McDonald's pDOOH campaign on the Beijing Metro.
| Format | Typical CPM (¥) | Typical Minimum Buy | Buying Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elevator poster / LCD (Focus Media residential) | ¥20–¥45 | ¥25,000/week | Loop share / programmatic |
| Elevator Grade-A office LCD (Focus Media) | ¥35–¥70 | ¥45,000/week | Loop share / programmatic |
| Beijing Metro platform D6 / digital poster | ¥25–¥55 | ¥35,000/week | SOV / programmatic |
| Beijing Metro tunnel LED & station dominations | ¥80–¥220 | ¥150,000/week | Direct / PG |
| Beijing Metro in-train digital | ¥35–¥80 | ¥50,000/week | SOV / programmatic |
| PEK Capital Airport digital (airside + landside) | ¥180–¥550 | ¥280,000/week | Direct / PG |
| PKX Daxing Airport digital | ¥150–¥450 | ¥250,000/week | Direct / PG |
| Beijing South / West / Chaoyang high-speed rail hubs | ¥90–¥250 | ¥130,000/week | Direct / PG |
| Premium mall digital (SKP, China World, Taikoo Li, Parkview Green) | ¥120–¥380 | ¥100,000/week | SOV / programmatic |
| Wangfujing Street LED spectaculars | Quoted by slot share | ¥250,000–¥1,200,000/week | SOV packages |
| Sanlitun / Tongying Center landmark LEDs | Quoted by slot share | ¥350,000–¥1,800,000/week | SOV packages |
| CBD (Guomao, Chaoyang) office-skyline LEDs | Quoted by slot share | ¥400,000–¥2,000,000+/week | SOV packages |
| Bus shelter digital (Beijing city centre) | ¥35–¥85 | ¥45,000/week | SOV / programmatic |
| Taxi / rideshare digital | ¥25–¥70 | ¥25,000/week | Programmatic / direct |
| Programmatic open exchange (blended cross-border) | ¥25–¥180 | ~¥15,000 test | Auction |
Ranges reflect typical Beijing in-charge rates; agency-negotiated rates and programmatic auction clearing prices can run below these floors. Cross-border DSP pricing typically settles in USD with automatic RMB conversion. For live quotes tied to actual availability, pull pricing through the AdQuick marketplace.
DOOH inventory in Beijing is defined by venue environment, not creative format. Below, the venue categories that matter and who owns them.
| Venue Category | Primary Media Owners | Typical CPM (¥) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elevator LCD (residential + Grade-A office) | Focus Media (分众传媒) dominant; New Potato, challengers | ¥20–¥70 | Urban white-collar, captive dwell, frequency |
| Beijing Metro (platform, in-train, concourse, tunnel wraps) | Beijing MTR Advertising, Beijing Subway Advertising, JCDecaux China, Yagoo/Asiaray | ¥25–¥220 | Mass commuter, 10M+ daily riders |
| PEK Capital Airport digital | JCDecaux China, Capital Airport Media | ¥180–¥550 | International travellers, luxury, business |
| PKX Daxing Airport digital | Daxing airport concessionaires, JCDecaux China | ¥150–¥450 | International + domestic megahub |
| High-speed rail hubs (Beijing South, Beijing West, Beijing Chaoyang, Qinghe) | Asiaray, Yagoo, rail-side concessionaires | ¥90–¥250 | Intercity travellers, business corridor |
| Premium shopping malls (SKP, China World, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, The Place, Parkview Green) | Asiaray, Yagoo, Focus Media mall unit, in-house ops | ¥120–¥380 | Luxury, CPG, shopper marketing |
| Landmark LED spectaculars (Wangfujing, Sanlitun, CBD) | Vividcity (Wangfujing), Tongying Center, local concessionaires | SOV packages | Iconic brand moments, tourism |
| Bus shelters & street furniture | JCDecaux China (city concessions) | ¥35–¥85 | Pedestrian, hyperlocal |
| Taxi digital & rideshare toppers | Touchmedia, Tom Group, local operators | ¥25–¥70 | Nightlife, 18–40 mobile reach |
| Place-based (cinema, bars, gyms, convenience stores) | Focus Media cinema/place-based units, local networks | ¥40–¥150 | Entertainment, fitness, food & beverage |
| Expressway & ring road digital | Local operators, Tom Group | ¥50–¥130 | Drive-time Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei corridor |
Two formats define Beijing DOOH and neither has a direct equivalent in Western markets: the Beijing Metro network (27 lines, 490+ stations, ~10 million daily riders) and the Focus Media elevator network — the dominant elevator-lobby category that reaches urban white-collar audiences with captive dwell time. This reflects the distinctly Chinese DOOH category structure.
| Metro Format | Dimensions / Resolution | Typical Location | Slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform digital poster (D6 equivalent) | 1080×1920 portrait | Platform edges, concourses | 10–15 sec in 60-sec loop |
| Digital lightbox / column wrap | Various | Station pillars, passageways | 10 sec |
| Tunnel LED sequence | Synchronised LED array | Train-window sequential boards | 15–30 sec storytelling |
| In-train LCD | 1920×1080 | Carriage interiors | 10–15 sec loop |
| Station Digital Domination | Multiple synchronised screens | Flagship stations (Guomao, Dongzhimen, Xizhimen, Tiananmen) | Customised |
Creative approval: Beijing Metro creative is reviewed by Beijing MTR Advertising (for Lines 4, 14, 16, Daxing Airport Express) and Beijing Subway Advertising (for the majority of city-run lines) under Beijing Metro advertising policies and the PRC Advertising Law. Allow 10–15 business days for clearance. Political, gambling, alcohol, pharmaceutical, investment/financial, and education/training categories all carry tight restrictions — particularly tight in Beijing given the capital's political-sensitivity environment.
Focus Media (分众传媒, A-share listed 002027.SZ) operates the world's largest elevator media network. Beijing is one of its two largest markets alongside Shanghai, with an estimated 15,000+ buildings covered. Two subformats:
Focus Media is now available programmatically through select cross-border DSP deal IDs and PMPs, in addition to traditional direct buys.
CTR-M and CODC audience measurement: Reach and frequency on Beijing Metro and Focus Media inventory are reported through CTR-M and the China Out-of-Home Data Center (CODC), combining passenger counts, mobile device panel verification, and Statistics Bureau data.
China has shifted meaningfully since JCDecaux's McDonald's programmatic DOOH campaign on the Beijing Metro (a landmark early execution) and the expansion of local SSPs including Yagoo and VIOOH's partnership with Yagoo to expand China DOOH supply. Beijing is now the second-largest programmatic DOOH market in mainland China after Shanghai.
A DSP sends bids into an SSP representing one or more media owners. When a play opportunity opens on a screen, the SSP runs an auction (or fulfils a reserved deal) and returns the winning creative to the ad server. Screen-level identifiers, venue taxonomy, and dayparting determine which auctions your campaign participates in. Cross-border campaigns typically settle in USD via a DSP's China-compliant billing path; domestic RMB buys transact through local SSPs and agencies.
DSP and marketplace — transacts programmatically across every major SSP (Vistar, Hivestack, Place Exchange, Broadsign Reach, VIOOH, Yagoo) and aggregates direct inventory from every major Beijing media owner (Focus Media, JCDecaux China, Asiaray, Yagoo, Beijing MTR Advertising, Beijing Subway Advertising, Capital Airport Media, Clear Media) in a single unified plan, with native CTR-M / CODC planning, creative delivery, and attribution.
Largest pDOOH DSP globally; APAC coverage including Beijing via SSP partnerships; strong for cross-border advertisers entering China.
JCDecaux-backed SSP with DSP functionality; partnered with Yagoo to expand China DOOH access; primary path into JCDecaux China's Beijing Metro and PEK airport inventory.
Local China SSP with deep Asiaray and local-network supply paths; Beijing inventory across metro, mall, and high-speed rail.
Integrated with Broadsign Reach SSP and Broadsign's CMS footprint across APAC media owners.
DOOH as a channel within TTD's omnichannel buying; growing China DOOH access.
Omnichannel DSP with DOOH line items routed via Place Exchange and other SSP partners for APAC supply.
APAC-focused DSP/measurement platform with Beijing supply paths.
Omnichannel DSP with DOOH module; accessible Beijing supply via SSP integrations.
JCDecaux's SSP — primary route to JCDecaux China Beijing Metro, PEK airport, and street furniture inventory.
Local China SSP with deep Asiaray and local-network supply across Beijing metro, mall, and high-speed rail.
Strong APAC SSP footprint; enables Beijing inventory access via deal IDs at low entry budgets.
Integrated with Broadsign's APAC CMS footprint; SSP layer for Broadsign-managed media owners.
Integrated into The Trade Desk, Yahoo DSP, and other omnichannel DSPs for DOOH line items in APAC.
Vistar's supply-side layer for media owners onboarded to Vistar's APAC supply footprint.
| Deal Type | Mechanics | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Open exchange | Auction-based, lowest CPM | Test campaigns; growing but still a minority of Chinese DOOH |
| Private marketplace (PMP) | Invite-only deal with preferred floor and premium inventory | The most common programmatic path in China |
| Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) | Fixed impression count, fixed CPM, reserved inventory | How JCDecaux's McDonald's Beijing Metro programmatic campaign was structured |
Chinese DOOH is measured through a combination of industry bodies, with no single equivalent of the UK's Route or US's Geopath. The primary measurement sources for Beijing.
Impressions, reach, frequency, Share of Voice (SOV), CPM, CPV, store visits, WeChat mini-program engagement, branded search lift on Baidu, Tmall/JD.com traffic lift, and conversion lift where first-party data is available.
Standard specs, file formats, durations, motion rules, and the bilingual creative-approval workflow that defines China DOOH delivery.
| Format | Resolution | Aspect | Duration | File |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metro platform D6 / portrait mall | 1080×1920 | 9:16 | 10–15 sec | MP4, JPG, PNG |
| Metro in-train + lightbox landscape | 1920×1080 | 16:9 | 10–15 sec | MP4, JPG, PNG |
| Focus Media elevator LCD | 1080×1920 or 1920×1080 per screen | 9:16 or 16:9 | 15 sec standard | MP4 (H.264) |
| Airport / large-format mall | 1920×1080 or custom | 16:9 | 10–20 sec | MP4, JPG, PNG |
| Wangfujing / Sanlitun / CBD LED spectaculars | Custom (building-specific) | Varies | Varies | Owner-specified |
All Chinese advertising, including DOOH, must comply with the PRC Advertising Law (中华人民共和国广告法) administered by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), with Beijing-specific enforcement by the Beijing Administration for Market Regulation. Categories with extra scrutiny in Beijing — and the capital tends to be the strictest-enforcing jurisdiction in China:
The media owners, network operators, and DSPs that comprise the Beijing DOOH ecosystem — and how AdQuick unifies them.
Residential + Grade-A office elevator LCD; dominant white-collar frequency network in Beijing.
Beijing Metro (selected lines — notably the McDonald's pDOOH proof), PEK Capital Airport, street furniture.
Beijing Metro (selected lines), high-speed rail (Beijing South, Beijing West, Beijing Chaoyang), premium malls.
Metro, mall, and airport inventory; also operates Yagoo SSP for programmatic.
Operator of Beijing Metro Lines 4, 14, 16, and Daxing Airport Express.
Operator of the majority of Beijing Metro's city-run lines.
PEK airport inventory (JV-operated).
PKX inventory.
Wangfujing Street landmark LED concessions.
Bus body and street-level digital.
Taxi digital screens.
Outdoor digital bulletins, expressway digital.
SKP, China World Mall, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, The Place, Parkview Green in-house DOOH ops.
AdQuick, Vistar Media, VIOOH, Yagoo, Broadsign Ads, Moving Walls, The Trade Desk (OpenPath DOOH), Yahoo DSP, StackAdapt DOOH.
AdQuick is a DSP and marketplace that transacts programmatically across every major SSP (Vistar, Hivestack, Place Exchange, Broadsign Reach, VIOOH, Yagoo) and aggregates direct media-owner inventory from Focus Media, JCDecaux China, Asiaray, Yagoo, Beijing MTR Advertising, Beijing Subway Advertising, Capital Airport Media, Clear Media, Touchmedia, and Tom Group into a single unified plan — with native mapping, creative delivery, CTR-M / CODC audience planning, mobile audience extension, and foot-traffic attribution. That means one platform to plan, buy, measure, and report across the full Beijing DOOH landscape — rather than running parallel DSP seats and parallel owner RFPs, navigating bilingual paperwork, and managing cross-border billing in multiple currencies.
The Beijing districts that anchor distinct audience profiles — and the signature DOOH formats that work in each.
Audience: Finance, B2B decision-makers, international business, luxury.
Audience: Tourism, 18–34, creative, luxury shoppers, expats.
Audience: Tourism, domestic shoppers, luxury.
Audience: Finance, SOE executives, 35–55 professionals.
Audience: Tech, startups, universities (Tsinghua, Peking, Beihang), 25–45 professionals.
Audience: Korean community, tech (Alibaba, Caocao HQ), 25–45.
Audience: Airport-expressway corridor, embassy district, hotels.
Audience: International travellers, luxury, duty-free shoppers.
Audience: International + domestic megahub, business + long-haul.
Audience: Intercity travellers, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei business corridor.
Audience: Expats, high-income families, international schools.
Audience: Events, families, tourism.
Beijing applies the strictest enforcement of any Chinese city, with capital-specific scrutiny on political, financial, pharmaceutical, and data-handling categories.
Beijing Administration for Market Regulation enforces strictly; superlative claims and unsubstantiated performance claims are prohibited; penalties can exceed ¥1M.
Beijing applies the tightest bar on political and politically-adjacent content in China; commercial advertising should avoid any framing that could be construed as commentary on government or public affairs.
Beijing Municipal regulations restrict motion, brightness, and changeover intervals on roadside digital visible from expressways and ring roads.
DOOH screens themselves do not collect personal data; mobile audience extension tactics using device IDs fall under PIPL (China's GDPR equivalent, in force since November 2021) — ensure your DSP and data vendor operate with explicit consent signals and store data on Chinese soil where required.
Chinese (simplified) must be primary; English or other languages can be secondary.
Beijing permits AQI-triggered DCO, but advertising that exploits pollution anxiety for health-product claims is scrutinised under misleading-claims rules.
Three viable buying paths, depending on budget, scale, cross-border complexity, and comfort with Chinese media operations.
Contact Focus Media, JCDecaux China, Asiaray, Yagoo, Beijing MTR Advertising, Beijing Subway Advertising, Capital Airport Media, Clear Media, or local landmark concessionaires directly. Best for flagship, landmark, and large-budget direct buys (Wangfujing LED takeovers, PEK premium airport walls, Focus Media Tier-1 elevator packages in CBD/Chaoyang). Downsides: parallel RFPs in Mandarin, RMB invoicing and domestic-entity requirements, creative-approval paperwork in Chinese, and slow plan stitching across owners — particularly challenging for international brands without a Chinese entity.
Activate through any of the DSPs buying Beijing inventory: AdQuick, Vistar Media, VIOOH, Yagoo, Broadsign Ads, Moving Walls, The Trade Desk (OpenPath DOOH), Yahoo DSP, or StackAdapt DOOH. Best for impression-based, flexible, and data-targeted campaigns from ~¥15,000 (USD $2,000) test budgets upward. Cross-border advertisers can typically settle in USD with automatic RMB conversion. Downsides if picking a single non-unified DSP: some DSPs have limited Focus Media and Beijing Metro access, so you won't see every Beijing SSP's supply from one seat.
AdQuick is a DSP and marketplace — it transacts programmatically across every major SSP (Vistar, Hivestack, Place Exchange, Broadsign Reach, VIOOH, Yagoo) and aggregates direct inventory from every major Beijing media owner (Focus Media, JCDecaux China, Asiaray, Yagoo, Beijing MTR Advertising, Beijing Subway Advertising, Capital Airport Media, Clear Media, Touchmedia, Tom Group) in a single unified plan, with CTR-M / CODC audience data, creative delivery, bilingual creative approval workflows, mobile audience extension, and foot-traffic attribution all native — plus USD settlement for cross-border advertisers. The fastest path for any international buyer entering China without a domestic entity, or any domestic buyer who wants full-market access without running parallel DSP seats and owner RFPs.
Three illustrative budget tiers spanning a cross-border programmatic test through a flagship China-entry quarterly flight.
USD $2,000–$8,500. Single DSP with cross-border billing; 2-week flight, 2 dayparts.
USD $35,000–$140,000. Programmatic PMP across Beijing Metro, Focus Media elevator, premium malls; 4-week flight.
USD $560,000+/quarter. Direct SOV anchors plus rolling programmatic PMP across Tier-1 cities.
Costs, scale, programmatic mechanics, measurement, minimum budgets, buying paths, creative specs, and cross-border entity requirements for DOOH advertising in Beijing.
AdQuick is the DOOH DSP and marketplace that unifies programmatic buying across every major SSP (Vistar, Hivestack, Place Exchange, Broadsign Reach, VIOOH, Yagoo) with direct media-owner inventory across Beijing — including Focus Media's elevator network, JCDecaux China's metro, airport, and street furniture (the McDonald's Beijing Metro pDOOH proof point), Asiaray's metro and high-speed rail, Yagoo's mall and metro inventory, Beijing MTR Advertising, Beijing Subway Advertising, Capital Airport Media's PEK estate, PKX Daxing concessionaires, Touchmedia's taxi network, and local Wangfujing and Sanlitun LED concessionaires.
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