🇨🇳Purchasing a Chinese number

A mainland Chinese (+86) number is the credential the country's real-name systems check before they let a person operate locally: full Alipay, mainland banking and exchange logins, and the SMS codes that reach only Chinese lines. The walkthrough below obtains one remotely, through a Hong Kong reseller reached inside WeChat, so begin by installing WeChat (App Store or Google Play) and registering an account. One limit up front: a virtual eSender number receives SMS only and carries no voice channel, so services that confirm by voice call or offline verification will not accept it.

Why a mainland number still matters

WeChat itself registers and runs on any international number, so the friction sits downstream. Alipay often asks for a Chinese number; mainland bank and brokerage apps, identity- and health-style services, and two-factor codes from platforms that text only +86 lines all assume the user holds one. Since 2023 both WeChat Pay and Alipay accept foreign Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Amex cards, which is enough for a visitor paying for taxis and meals.

Those foreign cards sit under caps — in March 2024 the People's Bank of China had Alipay and Tenpay (WeChat Pay) raise them to USD 5,000 a transaction and USD 50,000 a year, from USD 1,000 and USD 10,000 — and they cannot send red packets or peer-to-peer transfers. A real-name +86 line, bound to a local wallet or bank card, lifts the holder from tourist-grade payments to resident-grade access. That is why families operating into China keep one alongside their Hong Kong banking and renminbi clearing, and route supplier settlement through services such as WorldFirst.

The real-name regime behind it

China retired the anonymous SIM years ago. Since 1 December 2019 the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has required carriers to run a live portrait comparison — the holder's face matched against the identity document on file — before a new number is issued at a physical sales point, and carriers' service contracts must bar subscribers from reselling SIM cards. The stated purpose is fraud control and a complete real-name register.

For a foreigner inside China, the counter route is a valid passport (or a foreigner's permanent residence ID card) presented in person at a carrier's own shop, where the entry record is checked; nobody can apply on the holder's behalf, and one person may hold no more than five active lines with each carrier nationwide. The remote route in this guide reproduces the same check: the applicant uploads their passport pages and a selfie, and the number activates only once that verification clears. The line is then registered to the holder by name and face, so it is treated as one's own, not a throwaway.

On 15 July 2025 China launched the national cyberspace ID system (国家网络身份认证), issuing an online identifier 网号 and certificate 网证 that confirm identity online without handing passport data to every service. Registration is voluntary and open only to holders of a statutory ID listed in the measures, such as a Chinese resident ID card or a foreigner's permanent residence ID card (an ordinary foreign passport does not qualify); it requires an NFC smartphone, face recognition and a bound phone number — the phone becomes the anchor of the whole Chinese digital identity, which is worth weighing when choosing between a physical SIM and a virtual number.

Where a virtual number falls short

The main eSender limitation is the missing voice channel: if a bank, government service or payment platform delivers the one-time code by a call, a virtual number will not receive it. The second weak spot is strict KYC. Opening a corporate account at a major Chinese bank usually requires a physical SIM and an in-person visit; an online passport upload is not enough there.

For payments the picture is softer: since 2023 WeChat Pay and Alipay accept foreign Visa and Mastercard, so a visitor often manages with an SMS-receiving number and a linked foreign card. Those deploying a WFOE company or a representative office will need the number already at bank onboarding and tax registration, so it is planned together with the structure — see payments and trade with China.

WeChat registration

1. The WeChat app is installed on the phone
2. Open the app
3. ClickSign upandSign up with Mobile
4. Full Name,Phone andPassword— name, phone number and new password
5. ClickI have read…andNext
6. In subsequent windows clickNextandI have read…
7. In theSecurity Verificationwindow clickStart
8. Verification can be completed via bank card
9. InVerification SuccessfulclickBack to Sign Up
10. In the «Code» field the WeChat code sent to the phone number is entered, then «Submit» is clicked
11. Full NameandBirthday— name and date of birth
12. ClickNext
13. In the «Birthday» field the date of birth is re-entered, then «OK» and «Confirm» are clicked
14. In subsequent windows clickI have read…,NextandDone
15. WeChat registration is complete

Purchasing a Chinese number

1. Open WeChat
2. In the bottom menu clickContacts
3. Click the first lineNew friends
4. Click in the upper left cornerAdd Contacts
5. SelectScan QR codeand scan the eSender official-account QR code
6. Open the eSender official account chat
7. Open the number-registration link from the eSender chat
8. ClickFollow Official AccountandAllow
9. In the new window clickKeep Go
10. If the page below opens, clickMessage
11. Click the center buttonE-senderand then first in the listRegistration Service.
12. SelectMainland China NumberandA brand new Number Registration
13. Complete the form

• Gender, Customer name and Contact No.— gender, name and phone number
• Type of document— Passport
• Nationality — the applicant's nationality from the list provided
• «Please input Document No.» — the passport number
• Verification Code— code from the image

1. ClickConfirm
2. Select one number from the list of Chinese numbers provided, clickSelected NumberandConfirm

For convenience, save the selected phone number in notes. It is needed in step 27

1. Scroll down the user agreement and check✓next toI agree…andl do not agree with Multibyte in Hong Kong…, and clickConfirm
2. Choose an available payment method — a bank card or a payment service such as YooMoney; the set of methods depends on the applicant's country, account and the current eSender payment page, so check the live activation page. Select the method and clickPayment
3. On the payment page, sign in to the chosen payment service or register
4. Authorize with the selected payment method and confirm the payment

1. After payment, clickReturn to site
2. In the eSender bottom menu, selectMy A/CandAccount Information
3. ClickReal Name RegistrationandContinue
4. Clickthe red buttonandAllow
5. Close the new WeChat login window and upload photos

• Passport cover
• Main passport page spread
• Selfie

1. «where you are» is clicked and the location confirmed
2. ClickSubmitandConfirm
3. Done. Data submitted for verification
4. After verification, the Chinese number is active within 2–24 hours
5. All received SMS will be visible in the eSender section in WeChat chats

eSIM and the other ways in

Mainland carriers kept eSIM off consumer phones for years. That changed on 13 October 2025, when MIIT cleared eSIM nationwide and China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom switched it on. The reach is still narrow: the holder activates in a carrier store with identification, and profiles mostly load onto handsets sold inside China, while iPhones bought abroad cannot install a mainland-carrier eSIM profile.

Travel eSIMs are a different product: they deliver data over roaming and carry a foreign number, so they never satisfy a +86 real-name check. Until in-store eSIM opens to visitors and foreign devices, a rented, real-name mainland line obtained the way described above stays the practical route to a genuine Chinese number without travelling in to collect it.