Answer in one line: Yes. A foreigner can buy a mobile SIM card in China with a valid passport — but every number must be registered in your own real name, and small resellers may turn you away, so the reliable route is an official carrier store.

What do you need to buy a SIM card?

You need a valid identity document. Under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) rules on real-name registration of telephone users, a foreign passport is a valid document for registration, alongside your valid visa or residence permit. In practice the three carriers — China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom — usually want to see:

  • your passport, original (not a photocopy);
  • your current visa or residence permit;
  • for a longer-term contract, proof of a local address such as a lease or the registration form from your hotel.

Why is real-name registration mandatory?

Since 2013 China has required real-name registration for every phone number, and the rule has a statutory basis. Article 21 of the Counter-Terrorism Law requires telecom, internet, finance, hospitality, long-distance transport and car-rental businesses to verify the identity of their customers and to refuse service to anyone whose identity is unclear. A number that is not tied to a verified identity can simply be suspended. That is why a prepaid card bought informally off a market stall is a bad idea: it can be cut off at any time, and it exposes you to liability if the number is later misused.

Tourist SIMs and short stays

If you are only visiting, you can still get a short-term tourist SIM at the airport or a carrier flagship store — again with your passport. Data-only plans and short validity periods are common. If you plan to stay, a full post-paid number tied to your residence permit is more convenient, because many services, including mobile payment and banking apps, are built around a Chinese mobile number.

What does this mean in practice?

Three points matter. First, buy from an official store, not a reseller, so the registration is in your own name. Second, your number is linked to your passport, so if you renew your passport or change your visa status you may need to re-register; an outdated registration can get the line frozen. Third, do not lend your registered SIM to anyone else, because the number is legally tied to you and any criminal use of it — for example in telecom fraud — is traced back to your identity.

Hypothetical scenario: a foreign teacher arrives on a Z visa and buys a SIM at a small phone shop that hands her a ready-made card with no registration. Six months later the line is suspended, and when she tries to open a bank account the number is rejected as unverified. Re-buying properly at an official China Unicom store with her passport and residence permit takes fifteen minutes and avoids the whole problem.

The bottom line: a passport is enough to get a legal SIM card in China — just do it at an official store and keep the registration in your own name.

Wang Guan | Co-founder, Beijing Haolue Law Firm | +86 17813108512