Chinese Phone Number for Foreigners: Legal Ways to Get One

Legal ways to get a Chinese phone number

For a visitor with a foreign passport, the legal route to a Chinese (+86) number is a SIM card bought in mainland China. These are the legal options the sources cover:

• A Chinese SIM card from China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom, bought in person with your passport. This is the option open to tourists.
• A mainland number added to a Hong Kong SIM. CUniq registers these only with Chinese travel permits or ID, not a foreign passport, and 3HK sells them only to its postpaid customers.
• A Chinese virtual number from CTExcel, China Telecom’s mobile brand in the UK. CTExcel says it works only in the UK.

Every option has to pass China’s real-name registration. Chinese law bans renting out SIM cards and using code-receiving websites.

Chinese phone number for verification: which apps need one

Of the services below, public Wi-Fi logins are the ones that usually need a Chinese number; the others accept a foreign number or need none. China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the government’s 2025 guide for business expatriates list these apps as accepting foreign numbers. China Railway’s own sign-up pages cover 12306.

App or service	Foreign number?	What the sources say
Alipay	Yes	Sign up with a foreign or Chinese number. More on using Alipay as a foreigner.
WeChat	Yes	Sign up with a foreign or Chinese number. More on using WeChat Pay as a foreigner.
DiDi	Yes	Register with an international number, verify your identity with your passport, then link an international card.
Meituan	Yes	Register with an international number, then link an international card.
Dianping	Yes	Registration with an international number is supported.
Ctrip	Yes	Registration with an international number is supported.
12306 (train tickets)	English site: no number needed	The English site asks for your passport details and an email address, with no phone field. The Chinese-language site needs a mobile number from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan.
Public Wi-Fi	Often not	Login codes usually go to Chinese SIM cards, and foreign SIM cards can’t receive them. Pudong airport, for example, also lets you log in with a photo of your passport.

Chinese rules tie app accounts to real identities. The Cyberspace Administration of China requires apps that let people post or message to verify each user’s real identity, and it names a mobile phone number as one way to do it. China’s anti-fraud law also requires messaging, online shopping, gaming and live-streaming services to collect each user’s real identity details.

If an app only accepts +86 numbers, the legal option is a Chinese SIM card registered in your own name. For Wi-Fi, see how foreigners log in to China airport Wi-Fi. For bank and work sign-in codes while you travel, see authenticator apps and SMS codes in China.

How to get a Chinese SIM card

You get a Chinese SIM card in person in mainland China, at a store or airport counter run by China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom. China’s tourism ministry says visitors need a passport or a Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card.

1. Find a store that serves foreigners. Beijing’s government suggests a store run directly by the operator, and calling ahead to ask whether it takes applications from foreign nationals. The hotlines are 10086 for China Mobile, 10010 for China Unicom and 10000 for China Telecom.
2. Bring your passport. Beijing’s government says China Unicom’s airport counters ask for your passport and visa.
3. Choose a number and a plan. Shanghai’s government says you can choose a package or simply point to it in the brochure of plans.
4. Let the store check your face. Since December 1, 2019, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has required stores to match each customer’s face to their ID before issuing a number.
5. Register and pay. Beijing’s government says the card is issued on the spot with no processing fee. You pay for the plan.

Beijing’s government says one person with a valid passport can apply for up to five SIM cards, each with its own number.

Apply online in Beijing

In Beijing, China Mobile and China Unicom take online applications from passport holders. You collect the card at a Beijing Service counter at the airport: Beijing Capital for China Mobile, Beijing Daxing for China Unicom. China Unicom’s English form asks for your name, nationality, ID number and its expiry date, and a contact number, then a store and a time slot. It says the form only books an appointment, and staff confirm the details.

Shanghai’s government also lists Nihao Mobile, an English-language app aimed at expats in China that sells SIM cards online and delivers them. To activate the card, you send photos of your passport photo page, your Chinese visa page and your entry stamp, plus a video selfie.

Chinese SIM card for foreigners at the airport

Many big airports sell Chinese SIM cards to arriving passengers. China’s tourism ministry names Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou Baiyun.

• Shanghai Pudong: the airport lists a China Telecom counter in Terminal 1 arrivals near Gate 11, open 7:00 to 22:00. Terminal 2 arrivals has two China Mobile counters, one of them open 24 hours, and a China Unicom counter open 7:00 to midnight.
• Beijing Capital and Daxing: China Unicom has service halls at both airports, and each airport has a Beijing Service counter that issues SIM cards.
• In cities: operator stores are in malls, shopping districts and tourist areas. In Beijing, the city government says they typically open 8:30 to 20:00.

More detail is in our Pudong airport guide, Beijing Capital airport guide, Daxing airport guide and Guangzhou airport guide.

China tourist SIM with phone number

China Mobile and China Unicom sell short-term SIM plans for visitors that include calls and texts on a +86 number. China Mobile’s Beijing branch lists its Smart Card (灵动卡) plans on its sign-up page for passport holders, with a usage period of November 2025 to December 2026. Prices checked October 13, 2026:

Plan	Days	Data in China	Calls in China	Texts in China	Price
Smart Card 7-day	7	30 GB	100 minutes	10	100 yuan
Smart Card 10-day	10	35 GB	150 minutes	10	120 yuan
Smart Card 15-day	15	50 GB	200 minutes	10	150 yuan
Smart Card 30-day	30	80 GB	300 minutes	10	250 yuan

Each plan also covers 50 to 100 yuan of international calls and texts made from mainland China, and live English-Chinese interpretation during calls. The allowances don’t cover Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan. China Mobile says international roaming is off by default. You can turn it on at a store or through 10086.

Beijing’s government said in March 2025 that China Unicom (Beijing) sells SIM plans for 7, 10, 15 and 30 days. Its CUBe Card combines 5G data, calls and texts with e-CNY (digital yuan) payments and the BEIJING PASS transport service.

A Chinese SIM card doesn’t get around China’s blocks. China’s tourism ministry says Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are not directly accessible in China and need a VPN. Our guide to choosing an eSIM or a VPN for China covers the options.

Data-only travel eSIMs don’t come with a Chinese number. CUniq’s Chinese Mainland and Macau eSIM, for example, lists voice and SMS as not available.

China mobile number for tourists on a Hong Kong SIM

Hong Kong carriers sell mainland China numbers as add-ons to Hong Kong SIMs, but CUniq registers them only with Chinese travel permits or ID, not a foreign passport, and 3HK sells them only to its postpaid customers. The mainland number still has to pass China’s real-name registration.

• CUniq (China Unicom Hong Kong): a mainland number costs HK$10 a month on designated monthly plans and the CUniq Monthly SIM. CUniq’s FAQ accepts three documents for the registration: the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents, the PRC Resident Identity Card and the Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents. Each ID can register up to five China Unicom mainland numbers.
• 3HK: its Chinese Mainland & HK 1-Card-2-Number service adds a China Unicom number for HK$28 a month. 3HK’s terms limit it to customers who have used 3HK postpaid service for two years or more. You must show your original Hong Kong Identity Card and Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macau Residents. 3HK’s other mainland-number product, the Chinese Mainland Number Service at HK$19 a month, is only for 3HK postpaid customers.
• China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK): its terms say a mainland number depends on real-name registration that the mainland authorities approve. We could not open CMHK’s service pages, so its price and the IDs it accepts are not confirmed.

Our pages on CUniq in China and 3HK in China cover their data plans for the mainland.

Virtual Chinese phone number: why it fails

A virtual +86 number from a code-receiving website or a rented SIM is not a legal option. China’s Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law, in force since December 1, 2022, bans both and tells carriers and apps to act against them:

• Renting or buying numbers. No one may buy, sell, rent out or lend phone cards, or help someone else pass a real-name check (Article 31). Police confiscate any income and fine 1 to 10 times that amount, or up to 200,000 yuan if there was no income or it was under 20,000 yuan. Serious cases add up to 15 days’ detention (Article 44).
• Code-receiving platforms. No one may make, sell, provide or use platforms that receive SMS or voice verification codes in bulk. Carriers and internet companies must detect these platforms, cut them off and report them to the police (Article 14).
• Linked accounts. When the police or telecom regulators ask, internet companies must re-check accounts registered with phone cards tied to criminal cases or flagged for fraud. They can restrict, suspend or close those accounts and ban re-registration (Article 22).

Since the end of November 2019, MIIT has also required carriers’ service contracts to say that users may not resell their SIM cards.

Two legal virtual numbers exist, but neither helps a visitor in China:

• CTExcel, China Telecom’s mobile brand in the UK, sells a Chinese virtual secondary number for £3 a month. CTExcel says it works only in the UK and receives calls and texts from China. Your CTExcel SIM must have been active for more than 30 days, and you upload a Chinese ID card or passport for the real-name check.
• Telnyx, a provider of virtual phone numbers, says its China local numbers are for business use only and need company documents. Private use isn’t allowed.

China’s real-name rule for phone numbers

Every phone number in China must be registered to its user’s real identity. The rule comes from MIIT’s Provisions on the Registration of Real Identity Information of Telephone Users (Order No. 25), in force since September 1, 2013:

• Carriers must ask for a valid ID when you sign up for a phone line, including a mobile data card, and record the details on it (Articles 3, 6 and 9).
• A foreign passport is one of the accepted IDs (Article 7).
• Carriers must refuse anyone who won’t show ID, uses someone else’s ID or uses a forged one (Article 10).

The Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law requires carriers to enforce real-name registration in full, and limits how many phone cards one person can hold (Articles 9 and 10). Since December 1, 2019, MIIT has required stores to match each customer’s face to their ID before issuing a number.