China Step by StepPractical intelligence

eSIM vs Chinese SIM

Three different things get called "eSIM" or "a SIM for China" and they behave nothing alike. A travel eSIM is a data-only profile you buy and install from home before departure. A Chinese SIM is a local number registered in person against your passport, which by regulation cannot be done remotely. And China now has its own carrier eSIM service for phones, launched on 14 October 2025 — but it is activated at a carrier store, which makes it a third thing again rather than a remote alternative to the first. Sorting out which of the three you actually want is the whole decision on this page.

Should I do it before China?

Partly — some of it belongs before you fly

The eSIM half is strictly a before-you-fly task: installation needs a working connection, and the provider says it can be done in advance so you are online on landing. The Chinese SIM half cannot be done before you fly at all — MIIT Order No. 25 requires real-name registration against a document, foreign citizens register with a passport, and operators must refuse to sign up anyone who will not present one. So: settle device compatibility and the travel eSIM at home, and leave the local number as a decision you make in China, if you need one at all.

How

  1. Do before arrivalCheck the device before you buy anything. Airalo lists the conditions for using an eSIM: the device supports eSIM, it is not carrier- or network-locked, and it is not jailbroken or rooted. It also warns that some regional variants of a model may not support eSIM even when the global version does.1
  2. Do before arrivalFor an iPhone, Apple’s deployment documentation lists eSIM support from iPhone X onwards, including the SE second and third generations and up through the iPhone 17 range, and notes that iPhone 14 and later models sold in the United States are eSIM-only with no physical tray. That page does not address how mainland-China-sold models differ.2
  3. Do before arrivalBuy and install the travel eSIM at home. Installation requires an available network connection, and Airalo states it can be installed before you enter the coverage area so the connection works on arrival.3
  4. Do before arrivalUnderstand what that eSIM is not. Airalo’s China plans are data-only on the China Unicom network: no local number, no ordinary SMS, no calls. Keep your home SIM in the other slot with roaming on if you need to receive SMS codes.4
  5. Can do in ChinaIf you decide you do need a Chinese number, the legal shape of it is fixed: MIIT Order No. 25, the Provisions on the Registration of True Identity Information of Telephone Users, lists a foreign citizen’s passport as a valid document in Article 7(4), and Article 10 requires operators to refuse to sign up a user who will not present a valid document or supply its identity details. Its scope covers mobile network access with no separate exception for prepaid.5
  6. Can do in ChinaThe upstream basis is Article 26 of the Cybersecurity Law, in force since 1 June 2017 and most recently amended on 28 October 2025: network operators providing network access, domain registration, fixed-line and mobile network access, information publishing or instant messaging must require real identity information, and must not provide the service if the user does not supply it. Carry the physical passport for anything involving a phone number or network access.6
  7. Can do in ChinaWhere to buy, as published by Beijing for Beijing: the Beijing municipal government’s English guidance says foreigners may buy a SIM with a valid passport at the service counters of Capital International Airport and Daxing International Airport, or at China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom company-owned stores; up to five different numbers may be applied for; no processing fee is charged beyond the operator’s own tariff. The same page advises bringing translation help and phoning the store in advance to confirm it can serve foreign nationals. Those figures and that channel are Beijing’s, not a national rule.7
  8. Do before arrivalBeijing also runs an apply-online, collect-in-person channel: you submit the application online and staff at the Beijing Service counter help you collect the card after you arrive, with China Mobile and China Unicom named. It covers Capital International Airport only, the page does not list the required documents in its text, and you may still be asked to present the passport in person to complete verification.8
  9. Can do in ChinaShanghai’s municipal English guidance describes the same in-person shape: three main carriers, a company-owned store, passport presented and registration completed. It lists top-up channels — Alipay, WeChat, the carrier app or mini-program, retail shops and self-service terminals — and does not say whether a Chinese bank account is needed. If you have not set up a wallet, consider loading enough credit for the whole trip at the counter.9
  10. Can do in ChinaAsk at the counter about short-term traveller products. The Shanghai municipal English site reported on 25 June 2024 that China Telecom had launched a short-term SIM for international travellers with 7-, 15- and 30-day validity, usable for calls, data and apps such as transport and food delivery. Price, data allowance, purchase locations and required documents were not published on that page, and whether it is still sold has not been re-verified.10
  11. Can do in ChinaDo not confuse China’s own carrier eSIM with a travel eSIM. Xinhua reported on 14 October 2025 that China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom received MIIT approval for commercial eSIM phone trials and launched the service nationwide the same day, with activation done at a carrier store, or by booking an appointment in the app and then completing it at a store. The report does not state what a foreign national needs to bring. The practical meaning for a visitor is that a Chinese eSIM is not something you can switch on remotely from abroad.11

What can go wrong

You read that China launched eSIM and plan to activate a Chinese eSIM number from home, or from your hotel room on the first evening.

What to do instead That is not what launched. Activation is in-store; the app only books the appointment, real-name verification still applies, and no official statement covers what foreign nationals need. Buy an international travel eSIM before departure, and treat a Chinese number as an in-store errand you do only if something forces it.11

You install a travel eSIM and assume you now have a Chinese phone number, then a local service asks for an SMS verification code.

What to do instead The plan is data-only on China Unicom with no local number and no ordinary SMS. Keep your home number in the other slot with roaming enabled to receive codes, and get a local SIM only if a service genuinely requires a Chinese number.4

The eSIM will not install because the handset is locked to your home operator, or is a regional variant without eSIM support, and the refund drags past your departure date.

What to do instead Run the manufacturer’s or the provider’s compatibility check before buying. If the device is not eligible, fall back to a physical SIM: roaming on your home card, or a Chinese SIM bought on arrival with the passport.1

You go to a carrier store for a SIM and the passport is back at the hotel, or you bought a "no-registration" card online.

What to do instead Bring the original passport and do it yourself at the counter: the operator is required to refuse without a valid document. A card sold without registration is outside the regulation and can be cut off at any time. On a short trip, a travel eSIM avoids the whole registration question.5

You land at midnight, or at an airport other than Beijing’s two, and the counters are closed or the online pre-application channel does not exist there.

What to do instead The apply-online channel is Capital International Airport only — the Beijing Service page that publishes it is scoped to PEK and nothing establishes an equivalent anywhere else. Whether an airport counter is staffed at the hour you land is not published at all; the expectation that counters keep business hours and may be shut late at night or early in the morning is this site’s note against the Beijing SIM record, not a line in it. Arrive with an eSIM already installed or roaming on, and buy the local SIM at a city carrier store the next day if you still want one.8

You walk into the nearest carrier shop and the staff are not familiar with registering a foreign passport.

What to do instead Beijing’s own official page advises calling ahead to confirm the store can serve foreign nationals, and suggests bringing someone who can translate. Use a company-owned store rather than a reseller, and phone first.7

Last verified and sources

Each record below is shown as provenance: who published it, what kind of document it is, how far it reaches and when we last checked it. The source’s own wording is not reproduced here — most of these documents are published in Chinese, and a translation of ours would be a paraphrase standing where a citation should be. Follow the link to read any of them in the original.

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