What is the code to call China from Australia?

Use +86. From a normal phone you would dial 0011 then 86, but with StartACall you just type the plus sign, 86 and the number without its leading zero.

How much does it cost to call China?

With StartACall it is about $1.03 a minute to a mobile and around $0.97 to a landline, billed by the minute with a small $0.004 connection fee.

Do I drop the leading zero?

Yes. When you call China from overseas, the leading zero on a city code is dropped. Dial +86, the city code without the zero, then the number.

Does the person in China need an app?

No. You are calling their ordinary mobile or landline. They answer like any normal call, with no app and no account.

How many digits is a Chinese mobile number?

Eleven digits, always starting with 1 and with no area code. You dial them straight after +86 with nothing removed, since mobiles have no trunk zero.

Can you give a dialling example for China?

A Shanghai landline written as 021 1234 5678 becomes +86 21 1234 5678. You drop the leading zero on the city code and add +86 in front.

When is the best time to call China from Australia?

An Australian evening is still afternoon or early evening in China, since China sits two to three hours behind eastern Australia, which suits both family and work calls.

How to call China from Australia (+86) | StartACall | StartACall

The China country code and how to dial it

China's country code is +86. Mobile numbers have eleven digits and start with 1, dialled straight after the +86. Landlines have a city code, such as 10 for Beijing, 21 for Shanghai and 20 for Guangzhou, and the leading zero is dropped when you call from overseas.

From a regular Australian line you would dial 0011, then 86, then the number. With StartACall there is no exit code to type. Just use the plus sign and the full number, the same on a laptop or a phone, and we connect your browser to the Chinese network.

China uses one country code for the whole mainland, so the same +86 reaches Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and every smaller city. Only the city code that follows changes for landlines, while mobiles need no city code at all, which keeps the dialling consistent wherever in China you are calling.

What it costs to call China

A call to a Chinese mobile runs about $1.03 a minute, and a landline is around $0.97 a minute. You pay by the minute with no monthly plan and a small $0.004 connection fee per call, and the credit you top up never expires.

For families and businesses with ties to China, that is a clear, predictable way to stay connected. You can try the first call free to hear the line quality before you add any credit.

Against a normal Australian mobile or roaming while travelling, the browser route is usually far cheaper and far plainer about the price. There is no roaming because the call runs over your internet connection, and you see the per minute rate up front rather than finding it buried in a plan.

Time zone and the best time to ring

China keeps a single time zone across the country, sitting two to three hours behind Australian eastern time depending on daylight saving down here. Evening in Australia is still afternoon or early evening in China, which works well for both family and work.

Whoever you call needs no app and no account. They pick up their ordinary mobile or landline, whether they are in Beijing, Shanghai or a smaller city.

Reading a Chinese number before you dial

Chinese mobiles are eleven digits and always begin with 1, for example a number starting 138 or 159, and they carry no separate area code. You dial them straight after +86 with nothing removed, since mobiles have no trunk zero. Landlines are different, they pair a city code like 10 for Beijing or 21 for Shanghai with a local number, and the leading zero on that city code comes off from overseas.

So a Shanghai landline written as 021 1234 5678 becomes +86 21 1234 5678, while a mobile written as 138 0000 0000 stays as +86 138 0000 0000. Counting digits is a useful check, an eleven digit string after +86 is almost always a mobile.

The Chinese Australian community and business calls

Australia has one of the largest Chinese communities in the region, concentrated around Sydney and Melbourne, with strong family and trade links back to the mainland. A clear per minute rate makes it easy to keep those ties up, whether you are ringing parents in Guangzhou or a supplier in Shenzhen.

For business, the small time difference is an advantage. An Australian evening still catches the Chinese working afternoon, so you can hold a call after hours here without waking anyone there. The person you reach simply answers their normal phone, with no app and no account to set up first.

Worth knowing is that many popular apps are blocked or unreliable inside China, which catches a lot of callers out. A plain phone call sidesteps that entirely, because you are dialling an ordinary Chinese landline or mobile rather than relying on an app working at their end.

Call China from Australia +86

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Type +86 and the number

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