A Guide to Alibaba Cloud in China

Learn how to deploy and manage Alibaba Cloud services within mainland China, including licensing requirements, performance considerations, and how to ensure full compliance with Chinese regulations.

What is Alibaba Cloud?

Alibaba Cloud (also known as Aliyun or 阿里云) is China’s largest cloud service provider, holding a 37% market share in China (as of September 2026, you can refer to the AppInChina Cloud Index for more information) and the third-largest globally. It offers IaaS and PaaS solutions, including computing, storage, networking, big data, AI, and security services.

What is Aliyun? Is It the Same as Alibaba Cloud?

Aliyun (阿里云) is simply the Chinese name of Alibaba Cloud, but in practice the two names have come to refer to two separate platforms:

• Aliyun / Alibaba Cloud China (www.aliyun.com): the Mainland China platform, contracted with Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. in Hangzhou, billed in CNY, and subject to Chinese regulation.
• Alibaba Cloud International (www.alibabacloud.com): the global platform for customers outside Mainland China, billed in USD, with separate legal entities per region.

The two sites run separate account, billing and legal compliance systems, and account data is fully isolated and cannot be shared between them. A company that wants to host public-facing services inside Mainland China needs an Aliyun account, and “AliCloud”, “Alibaba Cloud CN” and “Aliyun China” all refer to this same platform.

Is Alibaba Cloud Available in China?

Yes, Alibaba Cloud is fully available in China through its domestic platform, Aliyun.com. However, it is important to note that Alibaba Cloud operates two separate infrastructures:

• AlibabaCloud.com – for international regions (e.g., Singapore, Frankfurt, Silicon Valley).
• Aliyun.com – for mainland China regions (e.g., Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai).

Due to Chinese regulatory requirements, these platforms are isolated. International users cannot directly deploy resources in Chinese mainland regions via AlibabaCloud.com. Instead, they must create a separate account on Aliyun.com using a China-based business license and local identity verification.

In addition, cross-platform resource replication between AlibabaCloud.com and Aliyun.com is not natively supported due to data sovereignty laws. Cloud services such as ECS, RDS, and OSS are confined to their respective infrastructures.

International entities who want to enter the Chinese market must:

• Create an Aliyun account with proper local documentation. This requires having a Chinese business licence, meaning international entities without an entity in China will have to open an entity or go through an agency. AppInChina can help solve this issue.
• Undergo the ICP Filing (ICP备案) process to launch public-facing applications.
• Adapt their cloud architecture to comply with the Great Firewall and other internet content regulations.

Despite the complexity, Alibaba Cloud does provide tools tailored for the Chinese market, including support for big data, AI, and enterprise-level scalability.

Alibaba Cloud China Regions

Alibaba Cloud operates more Mainland China regions than any foreign provider. Each region has multiple availability zones, and regions should be chosen by proximity to your users and by service availability.

Region	Region ID	Location	Typical use
China (Hangzhou)	cn-hangzhou	Zhejiang (HQ region)	Widest service catalogue; East China
China (Shanghai)	cn-shanghai	Shanghai	East China, finance
China (Beijing)	cn-beijing	Beijing	North China, government and enterprise
China (Zhangjiakou)	cn-zhangjiakou	Hebei	Low-cost compute, AI and GPU workloads
China (Hohhot)	cn-huhehaote	Inner Mongolia	Cost-sensitive and batch workloads
China (Ulanqab)	cn-wulanchabu	Inner Mongolia	Large-scale compute, GPU
China (Qingdao)	cn-qingdao	Shandong	North-east China
China (Shenzhen)	cn-shenzhen	Guangdong	South China
China (Guangzhou)	cn-guangzhou	Guangdong	South China
China (Chengdu)	cn-chengdu	Sichuan	West China
China (Heyuan)	cn-heyuan	Guangdong	South China, newer capacity

Alibaba Cloud also runs regulated Finance Cloud regions (Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing) for licensed financial institutions, and local regions such as Nanjing and Wuhan with limited catalogues. Hong Kong (cn-hongkong) is not a Mainland region: it sits outside the Great Firewall, requires no ICP Filing, and is available from both sites. It’s a common compromise for companies that can’t obtain an ICP Filing but want lower latency than Singapore or Tokyo; use our Test Your Site in China tool to compare real-world performance.

Additionally, Alibaba Cloud has localised products tailored to the Chinese market, such as SMS services using Chinese carriers, local DDoS protection, and edge node acceleration inside the Great Firewall.

Alibaba Cloud China vs Alibaba Cloud International

Below is a summary table of the key differences between Alibaba Cloud China and Alibaba Cloud International

	Alibaba Cloud China (aliyun.com)	Alibaba Cloud International (alibabacloud.com)
Contracting entity	Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. or affiliate	Regional Alibaba Cloud legal entity
Registration requirement	Mainland China mobile number	Email plus a non-Mainland mobile number
Real-name verification	Required before any purchase	Required only for Mainland resources or credit lines
Account data stored	Mainland China	Outside Mainland China
Currency	CNY (prices include VAT)	USD, tax calculated separately
Payment methods	Alipay, WeChat Pay, UnionPay, corporate bank transfer	Credit card, PayPal, bank transfer
Console languages	Simplified Chinese, English	Chinese, English, Traditional Chinese, Japanese
Documentation	Simplified Chinese only	English and five other languages
Product releases	China-tailored products released first	Core global products
ICP Filing	Handled through the China site	Separate procedure; .cn domains must be filed via aliyun.com

How Do I Open an Alibaba Cloud China Account?

Opening an Aliyun account requires a Chinese business licence and enterprise real-name verification. The process is:

1. Register at aliyun.com. Registration requires a Mainland China mobile number; an email address alone is not enough.

2. Complete enterprise real-name verification (企业实名认证). Alibaba Cloud offers four methods, differing in whether the legal representative must act, whether a business licence photo is needed, and how long review takes:

• Legal representative facial recognition: the legal rep scans with their personal Alipay account; no licence photo needed; completes in minutes.
• Corporate bank account deposit: Alibaba Cloud sends a small sum to your corporate bank account, and you confirm the amount; licence photo required; 1–7 working days. Any employee can do this.
• Legal representative Alipay verification: legal rep’s personal Alipay plus licence photo; 1–3 working days.
• Enterprise Alipay verification: company Alipay account plus licence photo and legal rep’s ID number; 1–3 working days.

3. Attach a payment method. Verification alone doesn’t enable purchasing; you must add Alipay, WeChat Pay, UnionPay or a corporate bank transfer.

4. Purchase resources (e.g. an ECS instance) and, for public-facing services, submit your ICP Filing through the console’s built-in filing tool (beian.aliyun.com).

If you don’t have a Chinese entity, every verification method above requires a Chinese business licence and, in most cases, a Chinese legal representative with an Alipay account. Foreign companies without a WFOE or joint venture can deploy through a local partner such as AppInChina, who opens and holds the account under their own entity, completes real-name verification and ICP Filing, and handles CNY invoicing on your behalf.

Why Choose Alibaba Cloud for China?

Alibaba Cloud is a good option for the following reasons:

• Better Performance Inside the Great Firewall: Hosting on Alibaba Cloud ensures low latency, reliable uptime, and better compatibility with domestic devices and networks.
• Simplified Compliance: Alibaba Cloud helps users apply for ICP Filings directly within its platform — eliminating much of the complexity that comes with other cloud providers.
• Trusted by Local Authorities: Alibaba is seen as a trusted and compliant player in China’s cloud ecosystem, reducing the risk of service disruption due to non-compliance.

What is the Pricing and Billing?

• Currency and tax. Everything on the China site is priced and settled in CNY, and listed prices already include VAT, unlike the International site where tax is added separately.
• Billing models. Most products offer pay-as-you-go (按量付费), billed hourly or by usage, and subscription (包年包月), prepaid monthly or yearly at a discount. Reserved instances and savings plans are available for ECS. Prices differ by region; Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen are generally the most expensive, while Zhangjiakou, Hohhot and Ulanqab are cheaper.
• Payment methods. Alipay, WeChat Pay, UnionPay and corporate bank transfer are accepted. International credit cards aren’t accepted on the China site.
• Fapiao (发票). Because the contracting entity is a Chinese company, you receive an official Chinese VAT invoice (fapiao) issued to the verified enterprise. Foreign companies working through a partner receive invoicing from the partner instead.
• Estimating costs. Use the China-site pricing calculator and pricing pages, not the international Alibaba Cloud page, which shows International pricing in USD.

Incentives for Using Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) in China

• Startup Credits
  New users may receive up to $3,000 USD in cloud vouchers through Alibaba Cloud’s startup programmes, such as the Alibaba Cloud Startup Catalyst Program.These credits can be applied to core services like compute, storage, and security.
• Discounted Service Bundles
  Special pricing is available on hosting, CDN, database, and security packages—designed to help new customers deploy faster at a lower cost.
• Free Trials for Key Services
  Many products, such as Elastic Compute Service (ECS) and Object Storage Service (OSS), are available with limited-time free trials to support testing and development.

Is Customer Support Available in English?

Partially. The China-site console is available in Simplified Chinese and English, but documentation is in Simplified Chinese only, and 24/7 support is provided through aliyun.com/service, primarily in Chinese. English-speaking engineers can usually be requested on paid enterprise support plans, but ICP Filing correspondence, billing notices and most product notifications arrive in Chinese.

This is a major practical difference from AWS China and Azure China, both of which offer English support as standard, and is one of the main reasons foreign companies use a partner to manage their Aliyun account.

What are the Compliance Requirements?

To legally host a website or app in China using Alibaba Cloud China, you must obtain:

• Internet Content Provider Filing (ICP Filing or ICP 备案) for informational websites
• ICP Commercial License—for sites offering online services or transactions
• Public Security Bureau Filing (PSB Filing or 公安联网备案)—an additional local-level registration

Alibaba Cloud simplifies this process by:

• Offering ICP Filing application tools within the platform
• Providing step-by-step support and documentation

Any company registered with a Chinese business license in Mainland China can apply for an ICP Filing—including joint ventures, Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprises (WFOE), and 100% domestically owned companies. AppInChina can help you with the application process if you do not have a company that meets these requirements.

While AWS remains popular with Western developers, Alibaba Cloud offers a more turnkey solution for deploying applications and services in China.

FAQs

Can I Use my Alibaba Cloud International Account in Mainland China?

Not for public-facing services. An account cannot be converted from one site to the other; you must register separately on aliyun.com, and any Mainland resources are subject to real-name verification and ICP Filing regardless of which site you buy them from. aliyun

Which Alibaba Entity Operates Alibaba Cloud China?

Contracts are signed with Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. or one of its affiliates, headquartered in Hangzhou. Regional affiliates such as Alibaba Cloud Computing (Beijing) Co., Ltd. may appear on contracts and invoices depending on the products purchased.

Do I Need an ICP Filing to use Alibaba Cloud China?

Only for public-facing websites and apps. Internal workloads and development environments don’t require one, but ports 80 and 443 remain blocked until the filing is approved. Note that you cannot apply for an ICP filing for a domain registered through the International site; the domain must be registered and filed via aliyun.com. alibabacloud

Is Alibaba Cloud Blocked Outside China?

No. Resources in Mainland regions are reachable from abroad, but cross-border traffic is subject to Great Firewall inspection and throttling, so performance for non-Chinese users can be poor. Companies serving both markets typically run separate deployments on the China and International platforms.

Can I Migrate Data Between Alibaba Cloud China and International?

Not automatically. The platforms are isolated, so migration means manual transfer or third-party tooling, and moving personal data out of China must comply with China’s data export rules.

Is Alibaba Cloud China cheaper than AWS China or Azure China?

Often, especially for compute in inland regions and for China-specific products like SMS and CDN. Alibaba Cloud also has far more Mainland regions. The trade-off is Chinese-language documentation and support.

Does Alibaba Cloud China offer AI models?

Yes. The Qwen (通义千问) model family and Model Studio (百炼) are available on the China site, which is a significant advantage over AWS China and Azure China, where Bedrock and Azure OpenAI aren’t offered. See our China LLM Index for how Qwen compares with other domestic models.

How AppInChina Can Help

AppInChina helps companies seamlessly deploy and manage Alibaba Cloud infrastructure in compliance with Chinese law. AppInChina helps companies with:

• Account Setup: We help you register and verify a Chinese Aliyun account and complete the required ICP Filing process.
• Compliance: We help ensure you are compliant with local regulations such as the ICP Filing.
• Technical Support: We provide technical and regulatory guidance to ensure smooth operation within the Great Firewall.

Ready to launch in China?
Contact us to deploy your services on Alibaba Cloud. We will aid with ICP Filing, regulatory compliance and ongoing support.