China (+86 / 0086): 11 digits for mobiles
Locals write 138 1234 5678. An API wants +8613812345678. Paste any China number below to see it normalised, validated, and identified.
# free & rate-limited · no signup · live results from the same engine as the API
Since the engine is the same one the API runs, a key does not buy you a better answer. It buys volume, bulk jobs and a signed receipt.
How China numbers are written
- Country calling code
- +86
- Dialled from abroad
- 0086 (011 86 from the US and Canada)
- ISO country code
- CN
- National number length
- 11 digits for mobiles
- Trunk prefix
- 0 (dropped in E.164)
- Written locally
- 138 1234 5678
- E.164 format
- +8613812345678
What +86 means
+86 is the country calling code for China. The same code is written 0086 when you dial out from most of Europe, Africa and Asia, and 011 86 from the US and Canada. All three reach the same place: only the exit code in front of it changes. Whichever one you use, the national trunk 0 is dropped once the country code is in front.
Mobile numbers
Mobiles are eleven digits starting with 1 (13 to 19).
Converting to E.164
Take the number as written locally (138 1234 5678), drop the leading 0, then prefix +86. The result is +8613812345678: no spaces, no dashes, no parentheses. Store that, and format for display only when you show it to a human.
Why not do it with a regex
A pattern that matches China numbers today breaks the moment a new mobile range is allocated, and it cannot tell you whether the number is actually assigned. The tool above runs the same numbering-plan engine as our phone validation API, so it also reports line type and region rather than just shape.
China mobile prefixes
- 13x-19x
- Mobile: eleven digits, always starting with 1
A prefix tells you the range a number was issued from, not which network holds it today — numbers move between operators. For the current carrier you need a live lookup, which is what our phone API returns.
China area codes by city
- Beijing
- 010
- Shanghai
- 021
- Guangzhou
- 020
- Shenzhen
- 0755
- Chengdu
- 028
- Hangzhou
- 0571
- Wuhan
- 027
- Xi'an
- 029
Mobiles are eleven digits; landline area codes are not a fixed width
A Chinese mobile is always eleven digits starting with 1 (13 through 19). A landline is an area code of two to four digits after the trunk 0, then the subscriber number, so Beijing 010 and Shenzhen 0755 are both correct and different lengths. A form that demands eleven digits will reject real landlines; a form that demands fewer will reject mobiles.
China phone numbers, answered
What country is +86?
+86 is China. Written 0086 from most of the world and 011 86 from the US and Canada. Drop the leading 0 on landlines: 010 1234 5678 in Beijing is +861012345678. Mobiles have no trunk 0 to drop: 138 1234 5678 is +8613812345678.
How many digits is a Chinese phone number?
A mobile is eleven digits after +86, always. A landline is the area code plus the subscriber number, so the total is not fixed. Validate against the numbering plan rather than counting.
How do I write a Chinese mobile number for an API?
Take it as written locally, 138 1234 5678, and put +86 in front with no spaces: +8613812345678. Chinese mobiles do not carry a leading 0, so there is nothing to strip.
That is how a China number is written. Whether a whole list is worth dialling is the free call list cleaner, or check one number on the spam phone checker.