How to Use Chinese LLMs Without a Chinese Phone Number

If you've tried signing up for any Chinese AI service, you've seen the same message:

Please enter your phone number (+86) to receive a verification code.

This single requirement blocks most overseas developers from accessing some of the best-performing and most cost-effective LLMs on the market. This guide covers every workaround I've found — from least to most practical.

The Problem

China's major AI labs produce world-class models:

• DeepSeek — DeepSeek V4-Pro matches GPT-4o within 3-5% on coding benchmarks
• Qwen (Alibaba) — Qwen 3.7-Max beats GPT-4o on long-context tasks (256K tokens)
• GLM (ZhipuAI) — GLM-4.5 is competitive with Claude for reasoning tasks
• Baichuan — Strong for Chinese-language generation

But every single one requires:

1. A +86 Chinese phone number for registration
2. Alipay or WeChat Pay for billing
3. Chinese-language documentation

Method 1: Virtual Chinese Phone Numbers (Fragile)

Services like SMS-activate and 5sim offer temporary Chinese phone numbers for ~$1-2.

The problem: Chinese providers have gotten aggressive about flagging virtual numbers. Your account gets banned within days. You lose any balance you've added.

❌ Not recommended — too unreliable for production use.

Method 2: Third-Party Gateway Services (Recommended)

The most practical solution is a gateway that handles the China-side complexity for you. These services:

• Maintain their own Chinese accounts and infrastructure
• Register with real Chinese business entities
• Handle Alipay/WeChat billing on their end
• Expose everything through a standard OpenAI-compatible API

What this means for you:

• Sign up with email (no phone number needed)
• Pay via Stripe or PayPal
• Get a standard API key
• Use the OpenAI Python/Node.js SDK as-is

Migration example (Python):

# Before — can't access Chinese models at all
# client = OpenAI(api_key="...")  # Only works for OpenAI

# After — full access to Chinese models
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.tokenmaster.com/v1",
    api_key="tm-..."
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-v4-pro",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)

No SDK changes. No VPN. No Chinese phone number. Just swap the base URL.

Method 3: Direct Registration with Chinese Support

Some providers like Alibaba Cloud's international portal offer English-language signup, but the model selection is limited and pricing is higher than domestic rates.

Qwen via Alibaba Cloud International:

• ✅ English signup available
• ✅ Stripe payment
• ❌ Limited model selection
• ❌ 2-3x price markup vs domestic pricing

DeepSeek Direct:

• ❌ No international portal
• ❌ +86 phone required
• ❌ Alipay only

Cost Comparison

Assuming 10M input + 2M output tokens per month:

Available Models Through Gateways

A good gateway will give you access to at least these models:

Things to Watch For

When evaluating a gateway for Chinese LLM access:

1. Latency: Most gateways use edge caching to keep latency under 100ms. Test with your workload.
2. English quality: Chinese models handle technical English well but can stumble on creative writing. Plan for a small GPT-4o fallback.
3. Data handling: Check if the gateway logs or stores your prompts. Some offer zero-retention policies.
4. Rate limits: Gateway rate limits are typically lower than direct API access. Fine for most side projects and small teams.

Quick Start

If you want to try this today:

1. Sign up at a gateway like TokenMaster — email only, no phone
2. Get your free $2 trial credit (no credit card)
3. Install the OpenAI SDK: pip install openai
4. Change your base URL and start using Chinese models

pip install openai

from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.tokenmaster.com/v1",
    api_key="your-key-here"
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="qwen-3.7-max",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Write a Python function to sort a list"}]
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

The Bottom Line

The +86 phone requirement is frustrating, but it's no longer a hard blocker. Gateway services have matured to the point where accessing Chinese LLMs from overseas is as simple as changing a base URL. Given the quality improvements and cost advantages, it's worth exploring — especially if your API bill is growing.

Not affiliated with any service mentioned. Just a developer who spent way too long dealing with this problem and wants to save others the headache.