A bridge between two worlds.

Red Thread connects Chinese brands with the Western publishers, creators and shoppers they need to grow, led by a team that has worked on both sides.

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Our story

Why we started Red Thread.

William Hamer-Jones moderating a panel on how Chinese brands can win in the West at the PartnerBoost 2025 summit in Shenzhen — William moderating “Winning in the West: How Chinese Brands Can Leverage Western Agencies” at the PartnerBoost 2025 summit in Shenzhen.

Chinese brands make many of the products Western shoppers use every day, from chargers and headphones to power stations and smart home kit. Yet few Western agencies understand how these brands work, and few Chinese brands have the publisher relationships they need in the West.

We saw that gap first hand. At partner events in Shenzhen, home to tens of thousands of ecommerce brands, we met thousands of founders and marketers looking for a way into Western markets. When we took deals from publishers including CNET, PCMag and Future to Chinese brands, the appetite on both sides was obvious.

No one was serving the China-to-West corridor from an affiliate and partnerships perspective. So we built Red Thread to do exactly that.

In Chinese legend, an invisible red thread connects people who are destined to meet. That’s what we do: connect the right brands with the right partners.

What we do

Affiliate and partnerships, China to West.

Three speakers on stage at PartnerBoost Evolve Spring 2026 in Shenzhen — Behind the scenes at PartnerBoost Evolve, Spring 2026, Shenzhen.

Red Thread is an affiliate and partnerships agency for Chinese brands growing in the US, UK and Europe. We plan and run affiliate programmes, connect brands with Western publishers and creators, drive tracked traffic to brands’ direct-to-consumer (D2C) websites and their Amazon listings and stores, and take Western partners to China’s largest affiliate events every March and August. We work in English and Mandarin, from London.

Our services

The team

Meet the founders

The people behind your Western partnerships programme.

William Hamer-Jones

Co-founder & Head of Partnerships

William has spent 16 years building partnership programmes for some of the world’s best-known brands, including Apple, Uber, Nike, Spotify, New Balance, E*TRADE and Net-a-Porter. He has worked on every side of the industry (agency, technology platform, brand and publisher), including roles with impact.com, CJ, LTK and IPG.

He has hosted partner events in Shenzhen that drew more than 3,000 Chinese brands, and brought deals from publishers such as CNET, PCMag and Future directly to Chinese brands. He was named in Hello Partner’s Hero 100 and won Gold for Best Amazon Campaign at the Partnership Awards. Having lived and worked in London, New York, Singapore and China, he leads Red Thread’s Western publisher and creator network.

Jay Hamer-Jones

Co-founder & Head of Brand

Jay has spent more than 10 years working with Chinese brands on product development, branding and global supply chains, alongside thousands of brands on their growth and commercial strategy. Born in Hong Kong, she works in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, so brands get clear, direct communication from their first call.

An award-winning designer, Jay has won several fashion and design awards and scholarships. At Red Thread she leads brand-side relationships, helping Chinese brands get ready for Western partners and present themselves in a way Western audiences trust.

Recognition

Award-winning partnerships work.

Awards our founders won before starting Red Thread.

Best Amazon Campaign

Gold, Partnership Awards. Recognised for helping thousands of brands build Amazon affiliate programmes.

Hello Partner Hero 100

Named one of the top 100 people driving the global partnerships industry.

New Balance (US)

Award-winning work repositioning New Balance as a lifestyle brand through new partners, growing online revenue by more than 30% year on year.

Publishers our
team works with

PCMAG
tom’s guide
Forbes
BusinessInsider
UNiDAYS

Brands our team
has worked with

NET-A-PORTER
slingTV