Jio, Airtel & Vi roaming in China vs a travel eSIM

Get an eSIM for China — from ≈ ₹285arrow_forward

Short answer: which Indian packs cover China

Which Indian SIM works in China? Jio, Airtel and Vi all do once roaming is on; the pack decides the data. For two weeks, Jio’s ₹1,551 pack gives 8 GB, about ₹194 per GB, the lowest in our tables. For one week, Airtel’s ₹1,298 prepaid pack gives 6 GB over 10 days. Vi’s prepaid Ultra packs give 2 to 5 GB in China. Prices as listed on 13 Oct 2026.

Pick a pack for calls on your Indian number, an eSIM for a trip that runs on maps and messaging. A China eSIM from India carries data only. Install the eSIM in India; it connects when you land abroad. Apps you use at home may behave differently on a Chinese network: check before you fly, because we do not promise access to any app.

India’s Ministry of Tourism counts 291,284 departures to China in 2025, against 258,082 in 2024: about 13% more (our calculation). Leisure and business made up 92.46% of them.

We sell travel eSIMs, so we have an interest here. The table still shows when your operator pack is the better choice.

Jio international roaming plans for China, including the East Asia, Europe and US pack

Jio international roaming plans for China come from four lists: the 100-country and 75-country packs, the World Pack and the data packs. The six rows below cost ₹599 to ₹2,851 as listed on 13 Oct 2026. One has a regional name, “East Asia, Europe and US”: ₹2,851 for 12 GB over 30 days, about ₹238 per GB.

eSIM Go is not affiliated with Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL. Pack details are taken from their own pages on the date shown.

The six are a selection; Jio sells the same packs to prepaid and postpaid users. Over 14 days, ₹552 more than the ₹999 data pack buys the ₹1,551 pack: 8 GB instead of 2 GB, plus 100 minutes each way. Pack validity starts at first use: “Your plan validity begins only with your first usage—call, text, or data.”

Airtel and Vi packs for China (table)

Every Airtel IR pack China-bound travellers buy comes from one set for all covered countries: prepaid ₹998, ₹1,298 and ₹2,998 (T&C dated 24 Sep 2026). Vi puts China on two prepaid lists, Budget Set 1 and non-UL. The seven rows cost ₹995 to ₹5,195.

Airtel’s 1-day prepaid pack, ₹698, gives 1 GB. Airtel’s own FAQ page still shows older prices, ₹898 and ₹1,198; the T&C dated 24 Sep 2026 list ₹998 and ₹1,298. Vi states that its IR packs are “not applicable for customers in J&K, Assam and North East”.

Vi’s postpaid table puts China in Set 2; we could not confirm that this country table is current. BSNL’s prepaid partner list names China, but a partner network is not a pack, and none of BSNL’s seven special tariffs is for China.

Why Vi’s Ultra pack is not unlimited in China

Vi gives unlimited data on Ultra packs only in its “UL” zone of 40 countries, and mainland China is outside it. Here the ₹3,495 Ultra pack gives 2 GB and 200 minutes for 7 days, about ₹1,748 per GB. The ₹4,695 pack gives 3 GB and 300 minutes for 10 days, and the ₹5,195 pack 5 GB and 500 minutes for 14 days.

Hong Kong and Macao sit in the UL zone, where Vi prints Ultra data as FREE. On a Shenzhen and Hong Kong trip, one Vi Ultra pack runs on two sets of terms: a few GB on the mainland, FREE data across the border.

Cost per GB for a 7-day and a 14-day China trip

The test: for each operator, take the shortest pack that lasts the whole trip, then rank by price per GB, leaving Vi’s FREE-data rows out (none applies on the mainland). Every figure is our division of price by data, from prices listed on 13 Oct 2026.

Seven days: Airtel’s ₹1,298 prepaid pack comes first at about ₹216 per GB, or ₹185 a day. Jio’s shortest week-long pack is the ₹599 data pack, about ₹599 per GB and no calls; its ₹951 pack with calls works out to about ₹238. Vi’s 7-day Ultra pack is last at about ₹1,748.

Fourteen days: Jio’s ₹1,551 pack comes first at about ₹194 per GB, ₹111 a day. Airtel sells no 14-day prepaid pack, so its 30-day ₹2,998 pack is the shortest that lasts, about ₹300 per GB. Vi’s 14-day Ultra pack costs about ₹1,039 per GB.

Our China plans run on China Unicom 5G and carry data only, with no calls and no SMS. In our catalogue on 12 Oct 2026, 1 GB for a week costs ≈ ₹286 (12 Oct rate), 2 GB over 15 days ≈ ₹717 (12 Oct rate), and 5 GB over 30 days ≈ ₹1,101 (12 Oct rate), about ₹220 (US$2.30) per GB, charged US$11.49 by card. Your card is charged in US dollars. Your bank converts the amount at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction (forex markup) fee. How card payments work.

To set a plan against a pack, divide its ≈ ₹ price by its GB on the day you buy and read the result against the per-GB columns; the rupee estimate moves with the exchange rate. At 0.3 GB a day, a week needs about 2.1 GB (our calculation), so 1 GB and 2 GB fall short and 5 GB fits. Plan days start at the first connection to a network in China.

Our China plans leave out Hong Kong and Macao. Our Asia eSIM lists China, Hong Kong and Macao in one plan; keep that line switched off until you land abroad. For Hong Kong alone, see the Hong Kong SIM card guide. Every China plan is on the China eSIM page; the China SIM card guide covers local SIMs. Identity is checked before a local line is issued, and a physical China SIM card from a local operator needs a free slot.

A data-only eSIM never sees the bank OTPs sent by SMS to your Indian number. Leave the Indian SIM in as a second line with mobile data off and ask your operator whether texts reach you in China; see keep Indian number for OTP.

Full refund within 30 days of purchase, as long as the eSIM has not connected to any network. If the eSIM doesn’t work and it isn’t your phone’s fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.

How we checked these prices

Each row shows the checked on date and comes from the operator’s own document: Jio’s plan list, Airtel’s T&C PDF dated 24 Sep 2026, Vi’s prepaid T&C PDF and BSNL’s partner page. The per-GB column is our division of price by GB, rounded. Our international roaming China coverage comes from each operator’s country lists, as does the Hong Kong and Macao column; Vi roaming China terms come from its non-UL and Budget Set 1 lists.

Vi prints its country lists as an image, which we transcribed by hand, so confirm China in the Vi app before you pay. More Jio international roaming plans for China and other countries are on our Jio page.

Updated on 13 Oct 2026: first version. Written and reviewed by Nadezhda Semenova; see the editorial policy. Operator pages: Airtel, Vi; all countries: international roaming.

FAQ

Get an eSIM for China, from ≈ ₹285 Pay by card in US$. Your bank converts the US$ charge at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction fee. Install the profile at home on Wi-Fi before you fly. The QR code arrives by e-mail after payment. See plans