Is it legal to use a VPN in China?

[ccc]

Knows anyone, is it legal to use a VPN in China? Just in case of mobile phone scanning on the China border.
Thanks in advance.

[Jealgu]

Don't think there is a hard rule that you cannot use a VPN in China. But law's can de soft, to the governments advantage.

I wouldn't be too nervous, don't think vpn's for foreigners are too much of an issue. At worst you have to delete it. So make sure you have a not blocked method to communicate with home base. Smart even when vpn is not blocked, from time to time vpns get thwarted, so even the good ones might have trouble time too time. A payed one might be a better choice than a free one.

My experiences are pre pandemic.

[ccc]

Thanks.

Here are all the countries where the government is trying to ban VPNs.

Btw I didn't know that is strictly prohibited in Oman.

[Kevin R]

Actually, there's no clear laws about using VPN in China, lots of Chinese are using various kind of VPNs, such as ExpressVPN, Lantern etc, I am living in China, have been using a VPN for many years, but never heard anyone was arrested/punished because of using a VPN "correctly", I meant to say: "As long as you are not using a vpn to do anything which may violate the law, you will be fine"... however, it is illegal to develop or sell a VPN in China(especially the mainland of China), no matter you are a citizen or a company...
So you are not likely to have your phone scanned by anyone unless you break the law or did something which may arouse suspicions, anyway, even they happen to know what is a VPN and found that you have one in your phone, they would just ask you to delete it...but the reality is that Most of the guys at the border checks do not know what is a VPN...
Everyone here says: In order to live/travel/do a business in China comfortably, the only Golden Rule is TO FOLLOW THE RULES (Very sad, but very true!)
I am looking forward to meeting you guys in China after the pandemic:)
If you need any help or information about living/travelling/doing a business in China, please feel free to contact me at: [email protected]

[jetdude]

If it is not too late; I used VPN on my phone while in China, yes.

[ccc]

If it is not too late; I used VPN on my phone while in China, yes.

May I ask, which vpn have you used?

[Triptinishat]

VPNs were banned in China and are now considered a crime by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). People have been using VPNs as a method to access various blocked websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Recently I learnt it through a article from Google.

[jetdude]

If it is not too late; I used VPN on my phone while in China, yes.

May I ask, which vpn have you used?

I have a couple; VPN Proxy Master, which is free, and VPN-Super universal (?) ...
I used those in China, but last time I was there was three or four years ago.

[ccc]

UPDATE September 2022: There has been a lot of talk about whether or not it’s legal to use a VPN in China these last few years due to the fact that China has threatened to ban all VPNs and even took the step to remove all VPN apps from China’s Apple store.

Seems ominous, right?

Why would China try to ban and remove something that was legal?

I propose a different way of looking at this. If VPNs were illegal in China, why wouldn’t they just start arresting foreigners who use VPNs instead of making big headlines with a ban?

Yet as of 2022, no foreigner has been punished for using a VPN.

https://www.travelchinacheaper.com/is-i ... -china/amp

[Sinkolot]

Thanks.

Here are all the countries where the government is trying to ban VPNs.

Btw I didn't know that is strictly prohibited in Oman.

Seems like a pretty shady bit of governing.