r/ProtonVPN • u/Proton_Team Proton Team Admin • Sep 07 '26
Announcement Proton VPN now has a server in China
Hey everyone,
We've added a new server location in China, aimed at people from China who are living or visiting overseas.
If you've moved abroad, you've likely hit the region locks that cut you off from the platforms you used back home.
This server is built for exactly that: connect back into China from wherever you are and access your local streaming services.
Currently working:
- Bilibili
- Tencent Video
- Youku
- Mango TV
To be clear
This is for connecting into China from abroad. It's an inbound use case for people overseas who want to reach Chinese content and services.
It is not built for the reverse, and although our Stealth Protocol and Alternative Routing features are highly effective at circumventing government censorship, we cannot guarantee that Proton VPN will always work reliably inside mainland China.
Your connection still runs under the same no-logs policy and Swiss privacy protections that apply across all of Proton VPN.
This is an early step and we'll be expanding platform support over time. If there's a service you'd like to see working, let us know.
Stay safe,
Proton Team
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u/MaRk0-AU Sep 07 '26
This poor server is gonna work OT
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u/plaimPail Sep 07 '26
yeah its gonna get hammered day one for sure
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u/PetersonProton General Manager Proton VPN Sep 07 '26
40 servers, and they already soft-launched before the weekend. Presently showing plenty of capacity.
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u/ARTIFICIAL_ARGUMENT Sep 07 '26
That’s just because the gooners haven’t realised youre now offering vpn port forwarding to the Chinese torrent network.
They’re doing like hour long AI movies already, I give it 1 month before you have to expand or you start getting all your IPs blocked at the firewall. Good luck
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u/Barthol5280 Sep 07 '26
Couple Questions. Will there be additional terms of use rolled out for Chinese-based servers? A window into the Great Firewall to access internal sites and services by the external public would be an interesting risk taken by the CCP. I’m assuming they are fully aware of this. Secondly, while Proton is not keeping logs, how is data being treated/monitored at the endpoint?
Thank you.
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u/Album_Phoenicopteri Sep 08 '26
The "Chinese servers" are connected via Smart Routing meaning that they are actually Hong Kong servers and IP but probably registered as China in GeoIP database. So Proton's privacy policy stays the same since the server is psychically in Hong Kong.
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u/netriz314 Sep 07 '26
it’s also useful for enjoying the regular internet with no ads as google ad services do not operate in china, already tested this, zero ads on youtube so far
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u/KasouYuri Sep 07 '26
unless you're not a Chinese national you shouldn't use this anyways, it's just gonna put you on a list. the safer way is using a dedicated China phone and use existing Chinese services for connecting back.
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u/Golden-- Sep 07 '26
As long as you are never visiting China, this isn't relevant. It's also an extremely unlikely scenario, if not flat out impossible.
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u/KasouYuri Sep 07 '26
I'm sure 'chinese people living or visiting overseas' is extremely unlikely to visit China.
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u/LowIllustrator2501 Sep 07 '26
What list? Why would anyone care if you use or not Chinese servers outside of China?
If you want to hide that you're connected to China - you can use Secure core that hides the connection to the exit server.
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u/KasouYuri Sep 07 '26
Chinese companies log everything about you and also have access to your ID since either you register through a phone number which always requires an ID since like a decade ago or you need to verify your ID. you're not hiding anything through secure core.
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u/LowIllustrator2501 Sep 07 '26
Proton is not Chinese company and doesn't ask you for your ID. How is this relevant here?
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u/KasouYuri Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 07 '26
How is this so hard to understand?
If you're using a mainland Chinese website/app, they know who you are regardless of what privacy focused proxies you're using.
the post specifically said "aimed at Chinese people living or visiting overseas". if you're not concerned about privacy against the Chinese government, this is not relevant to you. use whatever service you like.
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u/Golden-- Sep 07 '26
Your phone provider is not going to provide your identity to the Chinese government lol.
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u/BlackHazeRus Windows | Android Sep 07 '26
I think you do not need to use the actual SIM card, rather have a real Chinese phone number (maybe virtual Chinese numbers will also suffice, dunno).
But, yeah, if you are not Chinese and/or in China, using Chinese apps/services is a massive hassle sometimes.
Gotta learn how to order from Taobao, but ship outside of China as an average consumer, not business and alike. There are so much choice that AliExpress does not provide.
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u/sjtkzwtz Sep 07 '26
There are a lot of companies that specialize in this exact area. 代购 or 自寄邮包。However their primary customer pool is overseas Chinese.
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u/KasouYuri Sep 07 '26
yeah, if you're not Chinese then this is certainly a welcome addition. tbh I hope one day proton will be able to unlock AbemaTV which is Japanese... but alas all of their IPs seem to be blocked :(
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u/PetersonProton General Manager Proton VPN Sep 07 '26
AbemaTV is supported by Proton VPN (https://protonvpn.com/support/watch-abema-with-vpn) but note that you do need to be connected to a paid Japan server (not one of the free ones) for it to work.
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u/ExeterSabah Sep 08 '26
That's amazing. Now I can pay AI models in cheaper price
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u/PetersonProton General Manager Proton VPN Sep 09 '26
YMMV. Some merchants also determine regional pricing eligibility based on the card BIN number.
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u/ExeterSabah Sep 09 '26
I just ask my Chinese supplier to send some CNY to my Alipay. Which is working at the moment.
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u/NothingVivid5942 Sep 10 '26
finally, voluntary firewalling. in all seriousness that's awesome for those who want to use it
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u/Cool_Swing_9044 Sep 13 '26
Since you don't know anything about China, know that the vast majority of Chinese websites are actually blocked outside of China, especially in North America.
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u/LagJetGameThe Sep 13 '26
Around 3 days ago Proton stoped working in China. When can we expect that to be fixed?
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Sep 07 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/PetersonProton General Manager Proton VPN Sep 07 '26
Proton VPN is Swiss. We provide VPN servers for 149 countries and have not been sold to any of them.
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u/PetersonProton General Manager Proton VPN Sep 07 '26
As you might expect given the location, these servers are naturally Smart Routed for safety.
https://protonvpn.com/support/how-smart-routing-works#:~:text=China%3A%20Hong%20Kong