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Censorship Monitor · China Last test

Does WhatsApp work in China?

No. China has blocked WhatsApp since September 2017, and it doesn’t work on Chinese internet connections without a VPN. Hong Kong isn’t affected.

Today’s test · www.whatsapp.com

Blocked

www.whatsapp.com fails to open on China Unicom and China Mobile, twice, while it opens from other countries.

Last confirmed
Seen in our tests since
29 Sep 2026 (may be older)
How it fails
The connection never completes
Tested on
China Unicom and China Mobile
Test WhatsApp yourself › Everything we test in China

The official status

WhatsApp in China

China’s internet censors began blocking WhatsApp in July 2017, starting with photos, videos and files. By late September 2017, the month before a Communist Party congress, text messages were blocked too, and the block has stayed in place since.

In April 2024 the Cyberspace Administration of China also ordered Apple to remove WhatsApp from its China App Store, so it can’t be downloaded there either.

Hong Kong is outside the mainland’s censorship system, so the block doesn’t apply there.

What people use instead

WeChat, the Chinese messaging app that grew as foreign apps were blocked.

Get past a block

How to use WhatsApp in China

A VPN connects you through a server in another country, so a block on WhatsApp in China no longer applies. Where VPNs themselves are blocked, you need one that can disguise its traffic, and you should set it up before you travel.

Only government-approved VPNs are legal in China, and most foreign VPNs are blocked.

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Around the world

Where else is WhatsApp blocked?

WhatsApp is also blocked in 2 other countries we test.

It opens in 21 of the 23 other countries with a current result.

WhatsApp in every country we test ›

China

What else is blocked in China?

52 of the other 66 sites and apps we test are blocked in China.

All 67 results for China ›

History

Changes for WhatsApp in China

No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.

Method

How we test

  • Every day, test machines on China Unicom and China Mobile home connections open www.whatsapp.com.
  • A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
  • A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
  • Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
  • We test the website over home broadband. The app, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.

Full method ›

Questions

WhatsApp in China: questions

Is WhatsApp Banned in China?

Yes. China has blocked WhatsApp since September 2017, and it doesn’t work on Chinese internet connections without a VPN. Hong Kong isn’t affected.

Does WhatsApp Work in Hong Kong?

Yes. The mainland’s block doesn’t cover Hong Kong: Freedom House says the mainland’s internet censorship system doesn’t yet apply there.

Is It Illegal to Use a VPN in China?

China allows only government-licensed VPNs, and its telecoms ministry banned unlicensed ones in 2017. Users are sometimes fined, and a new crackdown on VPN services began in April 2026.

Free to use

Cite this result

Quote or republish today’s result with a link to this page: the monitor’s data is under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0).

Source: vpnAlert Censorship Monitor, https://vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/china/whatsapp/

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