How do I make calls to China? | An ultimate guide to China Phone Codes

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China is a newly emerging business leader in the new world order. By 2021 stats, It is the world’s 2nd largest economy, with a GDP of 17.7 trillion USD, after the USA, with a GDP of 23.0 trillion USD. 2022 is a historical year for Chinese companies and people. Chinese companies have made a new record by replacing the US in revenue and company count featured in the Fortune Global 500 list. They have made a mind-boggling 31% of the Fortune Global 500 listed companies’ total revenue of $37.8 trillion. These incredible stats indicate the significance of Chinese companies in international businesses. Today, most businesses can’t grow or survive longer in the market without collaborating with the Chinese market or businesses. Hunting Chinese clients or companies is separate, but how do you make calls to Chinese clients or companies? This blog is worth reading if you’re searching for easier & authentic ways to make international calls to China.

How to make international calls to China?

China is the world’s third largest country, with 23 provinces, 5 Autonomous Regions, 4 Municipalities, and 2 Special Administrative Regions. The country’s code is +86, with hundreds of area codes to manage calling systems for a population of 1.4+ billion people. It makes it complicated for foreign nationals to make international calls to China. How to make an international call to China? You may go through China’s mobile and landline telephone systems to get a simple answer to this question.

Whether you’re planning to explore China as a tourist or searching for a way to make a direct international call in China, you must learn about China’s telephone system. Keep reading better to understand one of the world’s largest telephone systems.

Landline Phone System China

Landline phones have area codes for regions and cities; one must add the area code as a prefix to the phone number to make calls. You may find the enlisted two types of landline numbers format in China,

• Two-digit area code with eight-digit numbers (AA – xxxxxxxx). Here A denotes the area code.
• Three-digit area code with seven or eight digits for internal numbers (AAA – XXXXXXX or AAA – XXXXXXXX).

Major cities in China typically have two digital area codes with an eight-digit internal number. In contrast, other places have three digital area codes followed by seven or eight-digit internal numbers.

This is the area code list of major cities in China.

How to make local calls to or from Chinese Landlines?

The number format varies depending on the locations of one making and receiving calls. You may look at the following possible phone numbers’ format scenarios to make local landline calls in China,

• It does not require you to add an area code while making a landline-to-landline call in the same region (with the same area code). [XXXX XXXX to XXX XXXX]
• Add zero before the area code as a prefix to call the landline to landline from different regions (with different area codes). [0AA – XXXX XXXX to 0AAA XXX XXXX]
• Add 0 and area code as prefixes for mobile to landline calls if mobile and landlines are in different regions. [1NN XXXX XXXX to 0AA XXXX XXXX]
• Add 0 as a prefix to call from landline to mobile if both are in different regions. [AAA XXX XXXX to 01NN XXXX XXXX]
• It does not require any prefix for calling a mobile phone from a landline if both are in the same region. [AAA XXX XXXX to 1NN XXXX XXXX]

Network Providers and Mobile numbers format in China

There are three mobile network carriers in China, as enlisted below,

• China Mobile – It’s one of China’s largest state-owned telecommunication companies, with approximately 945.50 million subscribers as of 2021. It’s currently operating in mainland China and Hong Kong. China Mobile has network codes of 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 147, 150, 151, 152, 157, 158, 159, 182, 183, 187, and 188.

• China Unicom – It’s a Chinese state-owned telecommunication company currently providing services in more than 30 countries, including Mainland China and Hong Kong. All the numbers started with the network codes 130, 131, 132, 141, 143, 145, 155, 156, 185, and 186 are registered with China Unicom.

• China Telecom – The Chinese central government, has up to 70.89% shares of China Telecom. It’s the 2nd largest wireless carrier in China, with almost 362.49 million subscribers as of 2021. China Telecom has network codes of 133, 142, 144, 146, 148, 149, 153, 180, 181, and 189.

When it comes to mobile number formats, you may witness the following three types of mobile number formats in China,

• 11 digits mobile number as NNN XXXX XXXX (Here N denotes the network digits)
• 13 digits mobile numbers as NNN XXX XXXX
• 13 digits IoT number as 14XXX XXXX XXXX

Virtual Mobile Numbers in China

China has over 40+ virtual mobile number providers, including eVoice, Nextiva, Cloud Sim, and Cloud Dial. You can get a Chinese virtual mobile number to operate from China as a business or interact with Chinese businesses. The first four digits of eleven-digit virtual numbers indicate the network provider. The base network providers provide the virtual mobile numbers to virtual network providers.

IoT Numbers in China

In China, there are different network codes for IoT numbers. The network codes 140, 141, 142, 143, and 144 are dedicated to IoT numbers. The 13 digits IoT numbers (14XXX – YYYY – ZZZZ) have the following three sections,

• The first five digits hint at the network provider.
• The next four digits (YYYY) indicate the location, i.e., the belonging area.
• The last four digits (ZZZZ) represent the customer number.

How to make local calls to or from Chinese mobile numbers?

You may look at the possible enlisted formats to make local calls if you’re staying or traveling in China with a Chinese mobile number,

• You do not require to add prefixes to mobile numbers while making mobile-to-mobile calls if both receiving and dialing phones are in the Beijing municipality. [1NN XXXX XXXX to 1NN XXXX XXXX]
• Add 0 as a prefix to mobile numbers for mobile-to-mobile calls if the receiver, dialer, or both are out of the Beijing municipality. [1NN XXXX XXXX to 01NN XXXX XXXX]
• Add 0 and area code as prefixes for mobile to landline calls if mobile and landlines are in different regions. [1NN XXXX XXXX to 0AA XXXX XXXX]
• Add area code as a prefix for mobile to landline calls if both are in the same region. [1NN XXXX XXXX to AA XXXX XXXX]
• Add 0 as a prefix to call from landline to mobile if both are in different regions. [AAA XXX XXXX to 01NN XXXX XXXX]
• It does not require any prefix for calling a mobile phone from a landline if both are in the same region. [AAA XXX XXXX to 1NN XXXX XXXX]

International Calls to or from China

Most countries treat China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan as separate countries for phone calls. That’s why all these four regions have different country codes for phone calls, as enlisted below,

• +86 for China
• +853 for Macau
• +852 for Hong Kong
• +886 for Taiwan

Similarly, the exit codes for all these regions are different, as listed below,

• 00 for China
• 001 for Hong Kong
• 00 for Macau
• 002 for Taiwan

You may follow the enlisted step to call another country phone from mainland China,

• To Mobile – Dial the China exit code (00), your country code, and the mobile number to make an international call from China.
• To Landline – Making an international landline call is slightly different than calling an international mobile number from China. Dial China exit code (00), your country code, landline area code, and contact number for international landline calls from China.

And you follow the enlisted procedure to make an international call to China from another country,

• To Mobile – Dial your country’s exit code, China’s country code, and the mobile number itself to make an international call to a Chinese mob number.
• To Landline – Dial your country exit code, China’s country code, area code, and contact number to make an international call to a Chinese landline number.

Final Words | How do I make calls to China? | An ultimate guide to China Phone Codes

This blog has discussed the Chinese telecommunication model in detail to help you learn about the Chinese telephonic system. We hope this blog will help you learn how to make international calls to and from China. You can follow the above-discussed procedure to make international mobile and landline calls to and from China.