One would ordinarily expect tech-savvy China to have jumped on the eSIM bandwagon long ago. Reality, however, remains the polar opposite, thanks to a confluence of intrinsic factors that remain unique to mainland China. Nonetheless, winds of change are afoot, courtesy of Apple and its decision to launch the iPhone 17 Air as an eSIM-only variant.
As we noted in a dedicated post recently, iPhone 17 Air's ultra-thin, titanium unibody frame required a few compromises, including the forfeiture of a physical SIM card tray, as well as the lowest battery capacity in the lineup, at just 62 percent of the Pro Max variant's energy density, and around 11 percent below even that of the base iPhone 17.
The elimination of a physical SIM card tray in the iPhone 17 Air has complicated Apple's launch cadence in China. Let's delineate the reasons behind this complication and the efforts that are already underway to resolve this issue.
China Has Not Adopted eSIMs Due To Its Phone Number-Linked Digital Payments Ecosystem, The Politburo's 'Great Firewall' For The Internet, And The Mainland-Hong Kong Dual-Governance Structure
Back in 2020, the three largest Chinese telecom companies - China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom - received a formal government approval to start supporting eSIMs, but only for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Since then, the use of eSIMs has gradually expanded to encompass smart watches and tablets, including iPads. Even so, no eSIM is issued without an ID check.
There are a number of reasons why China's government has remained hesitant towards eSIMs in smartphones. First, as most of our readers would be aware, China maintains an extensive internet firewall, cheekily dubbed the Great Firewall of China (GFC), which prevents Google's services from operating in the country, among other restrictions.
The problem, from China's perspective, arises from the fact that literally anyone can purchase an eSIM from a foreign carrier, opening a critical avenue for bypassing the GFC without using VPNs. As a case in point, travelers to China who use a foreign SIM card (roaming enabled) are generally able to access Google's services, as per the anecdotes shared on Reddit. Of course, roaming charges are prohibitive and play an important role in curbing an average Chinese netizen's appetite for foreign SIM cards.
This then segues into China's payment ecosystem, where Alipay and WeChat Pay, the two most ubiquitous digital wallets for payments in China, require phone numbers for registration. Chinese authorities remain concerned about rampant fraudulent activities if consumers can procure a new number (via foreign eSIMs) without proper ID checks.
Third, when Hong Kong residents visit the mainland, they are legally able to bypass the GFC, thanks to the territory's unique liberty-related concessions, which were won as part of an understanding between the UK and China at the turn of the century, when the former ceded the territory to the latter.
Currently, eSIM users of China Mobile HK piggybank onto the network of telecom service providers such as China Mobile (mainland) to remain connected. From the perspective of China's politburo, it has generally been a much more efficient solution to create a two-tier system - where Hong Kong residents and tourists can access the country's telecom network via eSIMs but mainlanders can't - to maintain the effectiveness of the GFC.
China Is Finally Entering The Age Of The eSIMs, Thanks To Apple
China's hesitancy towards eSIMs, however, is about to become a thing of the past, thanks to Apple, which is currently working with Chinese authorities to resolve lingering regulatory issues on the use of eSIMs in the iPhone 17 Air smartphone.
According to the SCMP, Apple has said that the three main telecom companies - China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Telecom – will "provide eSIM support [with] specific timing subject to regulatory approval."
Of course, there are growing hints that an approval is close at hand. For instance, China Unicom has already launched a pilot initiative to enable eSIMs in smartphones. Separately, the Beijing branch of China Telecom had previously announced that eSIM support would go live on September 19, the original launch date for the iPhone 17 Air in China. However, the RedNote post has since then been deleted.
To retain the effectiveness of the GFC, Chinese authorities are likely to institute a few safeguards, such as locking locally sold smartphones to eSIMs from mainland carriers. Apple might even be forced to comply with these restrictions by rolling out a dedicated software patch.
It is only plausible to conclude that eSIM support for smartphones in China is imminent. Moreover, Chinese cell phone manufacturers have a well-established penchant for copying Apple in nearly every respect. As such, once the support does materialize, it is not hard to see local manufacturers jumping on the eSIM bandwagon en masse.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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