+86 Country Code: China Dialing Guide

+86 is the country code for China. Whether you're calling Beijing, Shanghai, or a Chinese mobile phone, you'll dial +86 followed by the area code and local number. Here's everything you need to format the call correctly.

What Country Code is 86?

+86 is China's country code, assigned by the International Telecommunication Union. It covers all of mainland China—over 1.4 billion people.

A few notes on what +86 doesn't cover:

Hong Kong uses +852
Macau uses +853
Taiwan uses +886

If you're dialing any of those, you'll need the different code.

How to Dial a Chinese Phone Number

From the US, dial 011 + 86 + area code + local number. On a mobile phone, you can replace 011 with the + symbol.

Step by step:

Dial your exit code (011 from US, or just +)
Dial 86 (China's country code)
Dial the area code (drop any leading 0)
Dial the local number

Example: To call a Beijing landline (10) 8888-7777:

From US landline: 011-86-10-8888-7777
From US mobile: +86 10 8888 7777

That's it.

Chinese Area Codes

Beijing is 10, Shanghai is 21, Guangzhou is 20, Shenzhen is 755. Major Chinese cities use 2-digit area codes followed by 8-digit local numbers.

City	Area Code	Full Format
Beijing	10	+86 10 XXXX XXXX
Shanghai	21	+86 21 XXXX XXXX
Guangzhou	20	+86 20 XXXX XXXX
Shenzhen	755	+86 755 XXX XXXX
Chengdu	28	+86 28 XXXX XXXX
Xi'an	29	+86 29 XXXX XXXX

Smaller cities may use 3-digit area codes with 7-digit local numbers. When dialing internationally, always drop the domestic trunk prefix (0) that Chinese callers use locally.

Chinese Mobile Number Format

Chinese mobile numbers have 11 digits and always start with 1. You don't need an area code—just dial +86 followed by all 11 digits.

Format: +86 1XX XXXX XXXX

The first three digits indicate the carrier and service type:

13X, 15X, 18X — Standard mobile numbers
14X — Data/IoT devices
17X, 19X — Newer allocations

Example: To call a Chinese mobile number 138-1234-5678:

Dial: +86 138 1234 5678

Mobile numbers work the same regardless of which city the person is in.

China Time Zone

China is 12-13 hours ahead of US Eastern Time. The country uses a single time zone (UTC+8) despite spanning five geographical zones.

During US Standard Time: China is 13 hours ahead
During US Daylight Saving Time: China is 12 hours ahead

What this means for calling:

9 AM in New York = 10 PM in Beijing (same day)
5 PM in New York = 6 AM in Beijing (next day)

If you're calling Chinese business hours (9 AM - 6 PM Beijing time), that's 8 PM - 5 AM Eastern during winter, or 9 PM - 6 AM Eastern during summer. Late nights or early mornings for US callers.

Calling the US from China

To call the US from China, dial 00 + 1 + area code + number. On a mobile phone, just use +1.

Example: To call a New York number (212) 555-1234 from China:

From Chinese landline: 00-1-212-555-1234
From mobile in China: +1 212 555 1234

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