mathematics

Telephone numbers in mainland China

Telephone numbers in mainland China is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Telephone numbers in mainland China rather than just read about it. In short: Telephone numbers in the mainland of the People's Republic of China are administered according to the Telecommunications Network Numbering Plan of China. The structure of telephone numbers for landlines and mobile service is different.

Key takeaways

Telephone numbers in mainland China belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Telephone numbers in mainland China to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Telephone numbers in mainland China from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Telephone numbers in the mainland of the People's Republic of China are administered according to the Telecommunications Network Numbering Plan of China. The structure of telephone numbers for landlines and mobile service is different. Landline telephone numbers have area codes, whereas mobile numbers do not. In major cities, landline numbers consist of a two-digit area code followed by an eight-digit local number. In other places, landline numbers consist of a three-digit area code followed by a seven- or eight-digit local number. Mobile phone numbers consist of eleven digits. Landline calls within the same area do not require the area code. Calls to other areas require dialing the trunk prefix 0 and the area code. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are not part of this numbering plan, and use the calling codes 852, 853, and 886 respectively.

Mobile phones In mainland China, mobile phone numbers have eleven digits in the format 1xx-XXXX-XXXX (except for 140–144, which are 13-digit IoT numbers), in which the first three digits (13x to 19x) designate the mobile phone service provider. Before GSM, mobile phones had 6-digit (later upgraded to 7-digit) numbers starting with nine. They had the same numbering format as fixed-line telephones. Those numbers were eventually translated into 1390xx9xxx, where xx were local identifiers. The oldest China Mobile GSM numbers were ten digits long and started with 139 in 1994, the second oldest 138 in 1997, and 137, 136, 135 in 1999. The oldest China Unicom numbers started with 130 in 1995, the second oldest at 131 in 1998. Keeping the same number over time is somewhat associated with the stability and reliability of the owner. The 5th to the seventh digit sometimes relates to age and location. China's mobile telephone numbers were changed from ten digits to eleven digits, with 0 added after 13x, and thus the HLR code became four-digit long to expand the capacity of the seriously fully crowded numbering plan. In 2006, 15x numbers were introduced. In late 2008, 18x and 14x (for data plans or IoT) were introduced. In late 2013, 17x were introduced. In 2017, 16x and 19x were introduced. In December 2016, each cell phone number was required to be consigned to a real name in mainland China. In November 2010, MIIT has started the trial mobile number portability service in Tianjin and Hainan, in 2012 the trial has extended to Jiangxi, Hubei and Yunan provinces. On 10 November 2019, all provinces started accepting MNP requests for all mobile carriers, except for technical difficulties, the MVNO phones, satellite phones and IoT phones. Mobile service carriers can be identified by the first three or four digits as follows:

China Unicom before 2009 Operated by China Transport Telecommunication Information Group Co., Ltd. TD-SCDMA networks deprecated by China Mobile in 2020 China Unicom finalize deprecated the GSM networks in 2021. A plan to deprecate GSM by China Mobile announced in 2023, scheduled to shut down in 2025 CDMA2000 1x Ev-Do networks deprecated in 2022, and CDMA2000 1x RTT in 2024 LTE compatibility of China Broadnet SIM cards only available on Apple iOS devices WCDMA networks are being deprecated by China Unicom since 2023 1G TACS networks were provided by China Telecom since 1987, operations transferred to China Mobile in 1999, the year China Mobile established, 1G shut down in 2001.

Calling formats To call phone numbers in China one of the following formats is used:

For fixed phones: xxx xxxx | xxxx xxxx Calls within the same area code 0yyy xxx xxxx | 0yyy xxxx xxxx Calls from other areas within China +86 yyy xxx xxxx | +86 yyy xxxx xxxx Calls from outside China

For mobile phones: 1nn xxxx xxxx Calls to mobile phones within China +86 1nn xxxx xxxx Calls to mobiles from outside China

Area 1 – Capital Operation Center The prefix one is used exclusively by the national capital, Beijing Municipality.

Beijing – 10 (formerly 1, abolished after GSM was introduced, to avoid conflict with mobile phone numbers with prefix 0 added (e.g. 0139-xxxx-xxxx))

Area 2 – Country Communication System Operating Center These are area codes for the municipalities of Shanghai, Tianjin, and Chongqing, as well as several major cities with early access to telephones. These cities have upgraded to an 8-number system in the past decade. All telephone numbers are 8-digit in these areas.

Guangzhou – 20 Shanghai – 21 Tianjin – 22 Chongqing – 23 1 Shenyang, Tieling, Fushun, Benxi – 24 2 Nanjing – 25 Wuhan, Huarong District of Ezhou – 27 Chengdu, Meishan, Ziyang – 28 3 Xi'an, Xianyang – 29 4 1 - Formerly 811 in urban area and 814 in Yongchuan, both abolished on 9 August 1997; 819 for Wanxian and 810 for Fuling and Qianjiang, abolished on 28 November 1998. 2 - Formerly 410 for Tieling and 413 for Fushun, abolished on 28 August 2011; 414 for Benxi, abolished on 24 May 2014. 3 - Formerly 832, 833, abolished 2010. 4 - Formerly 910, abolished 2006. It's still unclear whether 26 will be provided or not, some local materials say that it's reserved for Taiwan (especially its capital Taipei), but currently they use +886. Some proposals from planned independent cities (Chinese: 计划单列市) to get rights to operate 026 were also unsuccessful.

Area 3 – Northern China Operation Center These are area codes for the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Henan.

Hebei – 31x 33x

Shanxi – 34x 35x

Henan – 37x 39x

1 - Formerly 378, abolished on 26 October 2013. 2 - Formerly 397 for 7 east counties, abolished on 20 October 2005.

Area 4 – Northeastern China Operation Center These are area codes for the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, and the provinces in Northeast China (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang). Additionally, numbers starting 400 are shared-pay (callers are charged local rate anywhere in the country) numbers .

Liaoning – 41x 42x

Jilin – 43x 44x 1 - Hunchun formerly 440, abolished in 16 September 2006 2 - Meihekou, Liuhe, Huinan formerly 448, abolished on 16 September 2006

Heilongjiang – 45x 46x

1 -Acheng formerly 450, abolished. 2 - Includes Jiagedaqi and Songling, where considered part of Inner Mongolia by de jure

Inner Mongolia – 47x 48x

1 - Jiagedaqi and Songling are de facto under the administration of the Daxing'anlingPrefecture, uses 457.

Area 5 – Eastern China Operating Center These are area codes for the provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong (predominantly), Anhui, Zhejiang and Fujian.

Jiangsu – 51x 52x All telephone numbers are 8-digit in Jiangsu.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Telephone numbers in mainland China

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Telephone numbers in mainland China claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Telephone numbers in mainland China before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Telephone numbers in mainland China ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Telephone numbers in mainland China

In research: Telephone numbers in mainland China appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Telephone numbers in mainland China in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Telephone numbers in mainland China is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics China communications-related lists, Telephone numbers by country, Telephone numbers in China, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Telephone numbers in mainland China outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Telephone numbers in mainland China in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Telephone numbers in mainland China means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Telephone numbers in mainland China out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Telephone numbers in mainland China in simple terms?

Why does Telephone numbers in mainland China matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Telephone numbers in mainland China?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Telephone numbers in mainland China.