Does Azure Work in China?

Using global Azure in China

Global Azure mostly opens from mainland China, though connections can be slow and unstable. GreatFire, which tests websites from nodes inside mainland China, answers “Yes” for the Azure portal as of September 29, 2026, and for Microsoft’s sign-in page as of October 2, 2026.

Microsoft’s guide to connecting with China says customers mostly struggle with high latency, low bandwidth, unstable connections and high costs when they connect to places such as Europe or the US. It names the Great Firewall as one reason: nearly all traffic from mainland China to the rest of the world passes through it. Traffic through Hong Kong and Macao meets only a subset of it, Microsoft says.

Azure China: Azure operated by 21Vianet

Azure China is Microsoft Azure operated by 21Vianet, a physically separate instance of Azure located in China. Microsoft says Shanghai Blue Cloud Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Beijing 21Vianet Broadband Data Center, operates and sells it independently, and enterprise customers sign their agreement with 21Vianet. It lacks some of global Azure’s features, though Microsoft says the gap is narrowing.

Microsoft’s checklist and regulations page set out what differs:

• Customers. Global Azure is open to any organization. Azure in China requires a legal entity in China.
• Real-name checks. Online service providers must verify users’ real names, and business users need a state-registered business license for it.
• Websites. A site operating in China needs an ICP filing with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or its domain isn’t allowed online, Microsoft and 21Vianet both say. It also needs a public security filing within 30 days of launch, or 21Vianet may suspend access.
• Data. China’s Cybersecurity Law requires operators of critical information infrastructure to store personal information and important data in China.

Azure China portal

The Azure China portal is portal.azure.cn, separate from the global Azure portal. In Microsoft’s endpoint table, Microsoft Entra ID sign-in moves to login.chinacloudapi.cn and Azure Resource Manager to management.chinacloudapi.cn. Microsoft says sample code written for global Azure must be changed to match. The Azure CLI has Azure in China built in as AzureChinaCloud, which you select with az cloud set. GreatFire last found portal.azure.cn open on June 4, 2026.

Azure VPN in China

An Azure VPN from China may not connect, and Microsoft points companies to licensed vendors for office VPNs there. Its regulations page allows a VPN or dedicated lines for your own office or operations, as long as they’re bought from a qualified vendor with a valid operating license.

To stay within China’s cybersecurity law, Microsoft’s Virtual WAN guide says, companies should buy an MPLS network, an SD-WAN or dedicated internet access from a provider with an ICP license for China, such as China Telecom Global, China Mobile, China Unicom, PCCW Global or Hong Kong Telecom. The provider should hand the traffic to Microsoft’s network in Hong Kong, not Beijing or Shanghai.

In September 2025, a US company wrote on r/AZURE that staff in China couldn’t connect Windows’ built-in VPN client to its Azure VPN Gateway over IKEv2, “as if ports are blocked”. Without the VPN, they had used SharePoint and Teams. The services companies use are compared in our corporate VPN guide.

Azure DevOps in China

Azure DevOps works from China only some of the time. GreatFire answers “Sometimes” for dev.azure.com, in a check on October 24, 2026.

None of Azure DevOps’ data locations is in China: Microsoft offers Australia, Brazil, Canada, Asia Pacific, Europe, India, the UK and the US. It says it doesn’t control or limit where users access the data from. Clone the repositories you need before the trip, and see GitHub in China for code hosted there.

How to use Azure in China

When DevOps or another Azure service stalls, put your laptop on a connection that leaves mainland China, from an eSIM hotspot or a VPN that you install at home. Do I need a VPN in China if I have an eSIM? sets out when each one helps.

Roaming eSIM. Nomad, an eSIM seller, says its China eSIM runs over international servers rather than Chinese networks, and that where data exits depends on the provider and plan. Devices on your phone’s hotspot get the same routing, it says, while local and public Wi-Fi in China stay filtered. Nomad adds that the eSIM doesn’t encrypt data in the same way as a VPN. See eSIM plans for China.

VPN. Pick a personal VPN using our monthly VPN status report, and install it before you travel. Microsoft’s licensed-vendor rule is about office connections. For visitors, see is using a VPN legal in China?

Azure in China: what users report

IT staff with users in China report slow plain VPNs to Europe and a 21Vianet version that lags global Azure. Each is one company’s experience, not a test.

• European tenant, May 2026. A European company asked on r/AZURE how to connect three salespeople in China to its European tenant. One reply recommended a secure access service with a point of presence in Hong Kong or Singapore, and said a plain corporate VPN to Europe would perform badly. Another said China connectivity works fine for weeks, then randomly becomes painful again.
• 21Vianet tenant, September 2025. On r/sysadmin, one reply called Azure operated by 21Vianet an older version of Azure, partly two to three years behind. Another company said it had deployed it with an SD-WAN.

Azure hosting for users in China

Microsoft’s best practice is to host workloads aimed at users in China on Azure in China. Latency between Azure in China and global Azure regions is typically about three times higher than between global regions, it says. To compare how servers outside China reach each Chinese carrier, see our ping to China measurements.

Related guides

• AWS in China
• Docker in China
• GitHub in China
• Working remotely from China
• Corporate VPN in China