GitLab Discontinues Service for China Mainland, Macau, and Hong Kong and Advises Migration to JiHu

GitLab recently issued an important notice titled “Important Change to Your GitLab.com Account,” stating that it will no longer provide GitLab.com account services to users located in mainland China, Macau, and Hong Kong.

The company recommends affected users migrate their accounts to JiHu (extremely‑fox GitLab), an independent company authorized by GitLab to deliver localized services in these regions.

According to the notice, GitLab.com will grant a 60‑day migration period during which users must transfer their data from GitLab.com to JiHu; accounts not migrated after this period may be deleted. Users who believe the notice is erroneous are advised to log in from a supported region and verify their account.

The announcement appears only on the GitLab Global site after logging in, not via email. The full translated notice reads: “GitLab cannot provide GitLab.com account services to individuals or organizations in mainland China, Macau, or Hong Kong. Our system detected your access from one of these locations. We recommend moving your GitLab.com account to JiHu, the exclusive local provider. You have 60 days to complete the transition, after which your account will be removed. If you think this notice is incorrect, log in from a supported service location. For more information or support, contact [email protected].”

Some developers reported that not all users received the notice, and a former employee provided source‑code evidence: a commit by Panos Kanellidis on 2024‑11‑15 titled “Add PIPL email sent timestamp.”

The change has sparked concern among developers and enterprises about data integrity and migration convenience, with opinions that GitLab’s move aims to strengthen compliance and expand market presence through localized services.

Additional claims from former employees allege that JiHu has cancelled its free plan, uses legal threats to push paid subscriptions, and has reduced its technical staff to three people while ending remote work. There are also rumors of internal disputes and accusations involving the CEO.

JiHu’s official response labeled these allegations as malicious rumors, offering no further details.

Historical context: GitLab was founded in 2011 as an open‑source code‑hosting platform. In March 2021, GitLab partnered with Sequoia Capital and Gaorong Capital to establish JiHu as an independent Chinese operation with full autonomy over strategy, technology, product, pricing, and operations, aiming to boost open‑source development in China.

Source: 51CTO Technical Stack.