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SMS Delivery in China (updated 2026)

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Summary (as of March 2026)
Despite many attempts and upgrades throughout the past 4+ years, SMS delivery to China is not something that SightCall, or any non-Chinese company can guarantee.  
We strongly advise against using SMS as the default notification method - and recommend using Email or URL (sent via other messaging systems).


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Technical Context

China is one of the largest and fastest growing mobile markets in the world, and it is also one of the most difficult countries to reach, as many filters are in place to block messages in and out of the country.  Sending SMS to Chinese mobile numbers may be subjected to manual review to screen for prohibited content. Additionally, messages with certain keywords may be blocked / filtered without warning, which can delay delivery of messages for up to 24 hours in some cases. Newly flagged keywords can be added or removed at any time.

 

Optimization Timeline

In 2022, we worked with our partners and deduced a reliable configuration (but it has stopped working reliably since late 2025):

Configure your Use Case SMS Notification setting to use the following configuration:

  • From = (Leave the "Custom Alphanumeric" checkbox unticked)

    mceclip0.png

  • Body = (copy / paste this template below)

    Click the link below to start a video session
请点击下面的链接以开始视频会议
${url}

This template must be strictly followed to have better success chance of sending SMS to China.  

In 2025 we received more and more reports that the above approach stopped working or had become extremely unreliable.  Our SMS providers/partners also confirmed that they can no longer guarantee SMS delivery due to China SMS restrictions, see below:

Nexmo: https://api.support.vonage.com/hc/articles/204017393-China-SMS-Features-and-Restrictions (previously worked with China Telecom and China Unicom)

Twilio is currently unable to ensure that messages sent to mainland China are reliably delivered because of restrictions around content, encoding, signatures, and use case. These restrictions have resulted in the blocking of seemingly legitimate and registered customer traffic. Due to this, Twilio is currently unable to support China message registration and messages sent through Twilio would be delivered on a best-effort basis with limited support only.
(previously worked with China Mobile)


Conclusion
Along with our partners, SightCall supports a best-effort SMS delivery to mainland China, but it is not our recommended invitation channel. This policy is continuously evolving, and as new information is made available, this policy can change. 
SightCall recommends using Email or URL as the preferred invitation method in China, in combination with more local digital communication channels. 
 

 

 

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