Call China for $4.54/min
Dial China (+86) over WiFi or mobile data. Per-second billing, no connection fees. Credits never expire.
What a call to China costs
Priced at Telvio's published rate for China: $4.54 a minute to a landline, $4.54 to a mobile. Billing is per second, so a call that ends at 4 minutes 12 seconds is charged as 4 minutes 12 seconds.
| Call length | Landline | Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| 1 min | $4.54 | $4.54 |
| 5 min | $22.70 | $22.70 |
| 10 min | $45.40 | $45.40 |
| 30 min | $136.20 | $136.20 |
| 60 min | $272.40 | $272.40 |
No connection fee and no rounding. Figures in USD.
Starter · $1.99
≈1 min to a mobile
≈1 min to a landline
Standard · $4.99
≈1 min to a mobile
≈1 min to a landline
Pro · $9.99
≈2 min to a mobile
≈2 min to a landline
Packs are credit, not minute bundles: a bigger pack is more credit at the same $4.54 rate, not a cheaper minute. Credit does not expire.
The number nobody quotes
A 47-second call to China, billed two ways
Per second
$3.56
What Telvio charges
Per whole minute
$4.54
What rounding up costs
A provider that bills in whole minutes charges a full minute for a 47-second call — 28% more for exactly the same conversation. Both figures here are priced at our own rate for China, so the comparison isolates the billing unit rather than guessing at somebody else's tariff.
Method: our published per-minute rate × 47/60 against the same rate × 1 minute. Telvio bills per second with no connection fee.
Calculate your call cost
30 min to China (landline)
$136.20
Billed per second — pay only for what you use
Why a minute to China costs $4.54
The price of an international call is mostly not set by the company you buy it from. It is the wholesale termination rate: what the operator in China charges to accept the call onto their network and deliver it to the person you are ringing. Your provider pays that, adds a margin, and quotes you the total.
China is an expensive corridor, and $4.54 a minute reflects a high wholesale termination rate rather than a margin decision. Calling this destination is not cheap with any provider, and anyone advertising it as pennies a minute is quoting a rate they do not honour.
Landline and mobile cost the same in China, $4.54 a minute, so there is nothing to decide before you dial.
Measured against everywhere we publish a rate, China is the 93th cheapest of 93. It sits above the average for its part of the world — $4.54 against $0.53 — which is worth knowing if you have a choice of number to call: a landline, or a contact in a neighbouring country, may cost noticeably less.
There is no connection fee, no minimum charge and no rounding on top of the rate, and credit does not expire. How Telvio pricing works
How to dial China
Open Telvio and enter +86 followed by the local phone number. The app handles exit codes automatically.
Example: +86 10 1234 5678
Full dialing guideHow to read a China phone number
A China number is +86 followed by 10 digits. Knowing which of those digits mark a mobile is what tells you what the call will cost before you place it.
Inside China, numbers are dialled with a leading 0. Drop it when calling from abroad — keeping it is the single most common reason an international call fails.
Mobile prefixes
Landline prefixes
Prefix ranges still identify a line as mobile or fixed even where a number has been ported between operators, because the mobile and fixed blocks are separate and numbers do not move between them. Operator identification from a prefix, by contrast, stopped being reliable once portability arrived.
Current time in China
--:-- --
Best time to call
8:00 AM – 10:00 PM local
When to call China
What the clock reads in China when it is mid-morning, early afternoon and evening where you are. Highlighted cells fall between 9:00 and 21:00 local time at the other end.
| Calling from | Offset | 09:00 | 13:00 | 19:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | +13:00 | 22:00 | 02:00 | 08:00 |
| Los Angeles | +16:00 | 01:00 | 05:00 | 11:00 |
| London | +8:00 | 17:00 | 21:00 | 03:00 |
| Dubai | +4:00 | 13:00 | 17:00 | 23:00 |
| Sydney | −3:00 | 06:00 | 10:00 | 16:00 |
Offsets calculated for mid-January. Countries that observe daylight saving shift by an hour for part of the year — the planner works out today's offset from your own device.
China area codes
Other Asian destinations, cheapest first
Rates vary by more than a factor of ten inside a single region, because each one is set by what the operator at the far end charges to accept the call. Taiwan is currently the cheapest place we publish a rate for near China.
Free tools
All toolsFrequently asked questions
How much does it cost to call China?
Telvio charges $4.54/min to China landlines and $4.54/min to mobiles. Billing is per second with no connection fees, so you pay only for the seconds you talk.
How much is a 10-minute call to China?
Ten minutes to a China landline costs $45.40 with Telvio, and $45.40 to a mobile. A full hour to a mobile costs $272.40. Billing is per second with no connection fee, so a call that runs to 10 minutes 30 seconds is charged for 10 minutes 30 seconds rather than being rounded up to 11.
Does Telvio round calls up to the minute?
No. Telvio bills per second. A 47-second call to China costs $3.5563; a provider that rounds every call up to a whole minute charges $4.54 for the same conversation, which is 28% more. The difference is largest on short calls and negligible on long ones.
How many minutes does $4.99 of credit buy for China?
About 1 minutes to a China mobile, or about 1 minutes to a landline, from a $4.99 pack. Credit is spent at the per-country rate rather than as a fixed minute bundle, so the same pack goes further to a cheap destination and less far to an expensive one. It does not expire.
Can I call China mobile phones with Telvio?
Yes. Telvio calls both landline and mobile numbers in China. Mobile rates are $4.54/min. You dial the full number including the country code +86.
How can I tell if a China number is a mobile?
By its leading digits. In China, a national number of 10 digits beginning with 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 is a mobile. That still works after a number has been ported between operators, because mobile and fixed-line blocks are separate ranges and numbers do not move between them.
How do I dial China from the US?
Open Telvio, tap the dial pad, and enter +86 followed by the local number. Telvio handles the exit code automatically — you just need the country code and phone number.
Is Telvio cheaper than Skype for calling China?
Telvio offers per-second billing and no connection fees. For China, the rate is $4.54/min (landline) and $4.54/min (mobile). Compare this with your current provider to see the difference.
Do I need to register to call China?
No. Telvio requires no registration, no account creation, and no phone number verification. Download the app, buy a credit pack ($1.99, $4.99, or $9.99), and start calling.
What time should I call China?
China is in the Asia/Shanghai timezone. For personal calls, aim for 8 AM to 10 PM local time. Telvio shows the current local time when you dial.
Call China for $4.54/min
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