Chinese mobile numbers are always 11 digits starting with 1; landlines use area codes (010 Beijing, 021 Shanghai). How to dial +86 from abroad, carrier prefixes, and the trunk-zero rule explained.
A mainland China mobile number is always 11 digits and always starts with 1 — written as 138 1234 5678, dialed from abroad as +86 138 1234 5678. Landlines work differently: an area code (010 for Beijing, 021 for Shanghai) plus a 7- or 8-digit local number, and when calling from overseas you drop the leading 0 after +86. That is the whole system in two sentences — below is everything that actually trips people up when calling Chinese suppliers, filling in Chinese forms, or saving a contact for WhatsApp.
Anatomy of a Chinese mobile number
138 1234 5678
First 3 digits = network prefix (originally identified the carrier) · remaining 8 digits = subscriber number · no area code — the same number works nationwide
Every mainland mobile number follows the pattern 1xx xxxx xxxx. There is no city component at all: a number issued in Shanghai is dialed exactly the same way from Guangzhou or Harbin. The first three digits run from 13x to 19x and were allocated to carriers like this (source):
| Carrier | Mobile prefixes |
|---|---|
| China Mobile | 134–139, 150–152, 157–159, 165, 172, 178, 182–184, 187–188, 195, 197–198 |
| China Unicom | 130–132, 145–146, 155–156, 166–167, 171, 175–176, 185–186, 196 |
| China Telecom | 133, 153, 162, 173, 177, 180–181, 189–191, 193, 199 |
| China Broadnet | 192 |
On formatting: in China, we actually write mobile numbers in 3-4-4 groups — 138 1234 5678 or 138-1234-5678 (source). The separators are cosmetic. Chinese websites and registration forms almost always want the bare 11 digits with no spaces: 13812345678. If a contact sends you an unbroken 11-digit string starting with 1, that is a mobile number.
Landlines still carry geography. The four big municipalities plus Guangzhou get 2-digit area codes with 8-digit local numbers; every other city gets a 3-digit code with a 7- or 8-digit number (source):
| City | Dialed inside China | Dialed from abroad |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing | 010-XXXX XXXX | +86 10 XXXX XXXX |
| Shanghai | 021-XXXX XXXX | +86 21 XXXX XXXX |
| Guangzhou | 020-XXXX XXXX | +86 20 XXXX XXXX |
| Shenzhen | 0755-XXX XXXXX | +86 755 XXX XXXXX |
| Zhengzhou | 0371-XXX XXXXX | +86 371 XXX XXXXX |
The leading 0 you see everywhere (010, 021, 0755) is a domestic trunk prefix, not part of the area code itself. Inside the same city you dial only the local number; city to city, you dial 0 + area code + number (source).
China’s country code is +86. From your phone: + (or your country’s exit code) → 86 → the number. Two rules cover every case:
Mobiles: dial +86 plus the full 11 digits. There is no 0 to remove.
Landlines: drop the trunk 0 from the area code. Beijing 010-6512 3456 becomes +86 10 6512 3456.
Copy-ready examples:
+86 138 1234 5678 — mobile, from anywhere in the world
+86 10 6512 3456 — Beijing landline (written 010-6512 3456 domestically)
011 86 138 1234 5678 — the same mobile from a US phone without using +
Going the other way, China’s own international exit code is 00 (source).
WhatsApp matches contacts by full international format: plus sign, country code, full number, with any leading 0 removed (source). For a Chinese mobile there is nothing to remove — save +8613812345678 and it will resolve.
For click-to-chat links, use digits only — no plus, no spaces: https://wa.me/8613812345678. Independent testing found the bare country-code format works on every platform, while a “+” breaks WhatsApp Web/Desktop and a “00” prefix breaks Android (source).
Three other formats you will meet on Chinese websites and invoices:
| Format | What it is | Dialable from abroad? |
|---|---|---|
| 400-xxx-xxxx | Nationwide business hotline; caller pays local access, the business pays the long-distance leg; reachable from mobiles and landlines | Generally no |
| 800-xxx-xxxx | Traditional toll-free; the business pays everything, but only landlines can call it — which is why 400 numbers took over | Generally no |
| 95xxx (5 digits) | Short hotlines allocated by the regulator to banks and large enterprises — 95588 is ICBC, 95566 is Bank of China | No — domestic short codes |
The practical takeaway: if a Chinese company only publishes a 400 or 800 number, ask them for a geographic +86 landline or a mobile number — the hotline usually cannot be reached from outside China (source). One street-level tip: genuine bank hotlines are exactly five digits. In our experience, longer numbers starting with 95 that call a Chinese SIM are nearly always telemarketing, and locals ignore them.
Emergency numbers in mainland China: 110 (police), 119 (fire), 120 (ambulance), 122 (traffic accidents). 114 is directory assistance and 12345 is the general government service hotline (source). Everyone in China also knows their carrier’s service code by heart — 10086 for China Mobile, 10010 for Unicom, 10000 for Telecom — useful if you pick up a local SIM.
Related reading: China Address Format