AI TOOLS IN CHINA

Are AI tools blocked in China?

ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are hard to reach in mainland China — and not only because of the Great Firewall. OpenAI and Anthropic actively block China IP addresses, so you need a VPN with a clean overseas exit. Here is what works, what is geoblocked, and which China-native AIs run without a VPN.

How long is your trip?

For a short trip, start with Yoho VPN free (1 GB/mo full speed) for maps and chat, and pair an eSIM so you are online the moment you land. Vedi i prezzi

For a week or two of daily use, Pro (200 GB/mo, all 30 locations) keeps streaming, AI tools and video calls smooth. Set it up before you fly. Vedi i prezzi

For a long stay or work trip, go Pro for full-speed data across all locations, and keep Smart Split on so WeChat, Alipay and maps stay fast and direct. Vedi i prezzi

13 of these AI tools are blocked or geoblocked in mainland China.

ChatGPT (OpenAI) Blocks China IPs AI chat/gen · OpenAI blocks China IPs — needs an overseas exit
OpenAI API Blocks China IPs Dev/API · OpenAI blocks mainland China + HK
Claude (Anthropic) Blocks China IPs AI chat/gen · Anthropic blocks China — overseas exit needed
Google Gemini Blocks China IPs AI chat/gen · not offered in mainland China
Microsoft Copilot Unreliable AI chat/gen · reachable but often limited
GitHub Copilot Unreliable Dev/API · works but slow via GitHub
Perplexity Needs a VPN AI chat/gen
Poe Needs a VPN AI chat/gen
Character.AI Needs a VPN AI chat/gen
Midjourney Needs a VPN AI chat/gen · runs on Discord (also blocked)
DALL·E Blocks China IPs AI chat/gen · via OpenAI — China blocked
Stable Diffusion (online) Unreliable AI chat/gen
Runway Needs a VPN AI chat/gen
Suno Needs a VPN AI chat/gen
ElevenLabs Needs a VPN AI chat/gen
Hugging Face Unreliable Dev/API · site reachable; downloads slow
Grammarly Unreliable Tools
Notion AI Unreliable Tools
Meta AI Needs a VPN AI chat/gen
ERNIE 文心一言 (Baidu) Works in China China AI
Doubao 豆包 (ByteDance) Works in China China AI
Kimi (Moonshot) Works in China China AI
Qwen 通义千问 (Alibaba) Works in China China AI
DeepSeek Works in China China AI
Zhipu 智谱清言 Works in China China AI
Tencent Yuanbao 元宝 Works in China China AI

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More China connectivity checks

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Access depends on your network, carrier and region and can change day to day. This is guidance, not a guarantee. Hong Kong and Macau are not behind the mainland firewall.