Although landline penetration in China is still well below levels in some Western countries, its telecommunications market has developed rapidly in recent years.
With a total population of 1.3 billion, China also has significant room to grow in internet access compared with the West — even though it has already overtaken other countries in terms of the total number of internet connections.
Altogether, China's telecom market — fixed line, mobile and internet — is a substantial growth market.
A few practical tips for calling to and within China:
China's international dialing code is +86. Comparison services can help you find the cheapest international calling rates, with the best offers starting from a couple of cents a minute.
To make calls from your hotel room or a rented apartment, it's worth getting a prepaid phone card, sold at newsstands and kiosks across China. Calls from hotel phones, especially international ones, tend to be expensive; calls within China and local calls are inexpensive.
Calling China from abroad, drop the leading 0 from the local area code as usual for international calls.
Calling home from China is generally cheaper than the other way around. A simple tip: give your hotel room's direct-dial number to people back home so they can call you instead.
For mobile calls and data in China, a prepaid SIM (or tourist eSIM) is still the easiest option, but since 2013 all SIM cards must be registered with a passport under China's real-name registration rules — they're sold at China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom stores, or as an eSIM bought online before arrival, rather than at newsstands. Top-ups are now done mainly through the WeChat or Alipay apps.
