Recently, VPNs were banned in China and are now considered a crime by the China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). This comes as a hindrance to residents of China that have been using VPNs as a method to access various blocked websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Understanding the background
Since VPNs are a subject to interference in the country’s internet connection, VPN providers need to be authorized. The MIIT has announced new rules for China’s VPN and cable regulations which will be implemented on 1 February 2018.
Rather than focusing on authorities working for multinational companies, Chinese administrators are focusing on companies providing VPN services to citizens of China. Another recent restriction of such VPN users in China happened in March 2016.
Many publications in China, like the South China Morning Post, and beyond, like the Washington Post, have implied that numerous legal VPNs providers are present in China.
These providers are associated with state-owned enterprises that mostly allow banks and law firms – which pay substantial fees – to legally bypass the Great Firewall, also known as the nation’s largest sophisticated censorship system .
The government has ordered three of the country’s state-run phone carriers, which are China Mobile (860 million), China Unicom (268 million) and China Telecom (227 million), to implement a ban on companies operating on the mainland without a leased web-access line.
Regulations and the challenges
Although China controls most parts of the internet available to their citizens, use of a VPN disrupts its mission to accomplish “cyber sovereignty” inside its borders. The reason behind the government of China blocking networking sites has to do with the highest level of political struggles and various parties using the internet as a battlefield.
If China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology successfully launches an internet crackdown to close all loopholes, the visitors won’t be able to access common websites blocked by the government.
Along with social networks like Facebook and Twitter, international news sites like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal will also be blocked by the firewall of China.
VPNs are necessary to do business in China but its ban will likely affect company and employees performance. Examples of individuals that are severely impacted by the ongoing VPN crackdown include an environmental researcher using Google Docs for collaborating and a Shanghai based curator working with artists overseas .
What this means in the global context
In China’s globalized economy, VPNs play a major role and are among critical tools for secured communications and global connectivity. It’s also used by foreign businesses of China to secure company data and/or to communicate with company headquarters overseas.
Since the Chinese Government ensures both Apple and Android app stores remove VPN apps, its absence can not only disturb the economy of the nation . Beyond this, it also affects the number of remaining users and could also harm academics, software developers, and foreign businesses.
Due to the Great Firewall, Chinese IP addresses have difficulty in accessing foreign journals, and methods of communication with foreign universities are less adequate. All of which get in the way of China’s global communications.
Different types of international websites are blocked by the government of China. It includes social networking websites, apps, search engines, Media portals, work tools, and porn sites. Since almost all significant sites are blocked in China, VPNs play a vital role in Chinese IP addresses accessing globally popular websites such as Google+, Wikipedia, and many more effectively.
Moving forward
Switching to a new VPN provider that is not blocked or switching to a different IP address that isn’t blocked can also help to avoid VPN ban. Similarly, running a VPN server by an individual can provide a unique VPN IP address that isn’t blocked by the government. VPN service providers allow people to change their port numbers. They are mainly of two types, TCP port 80 and TCP port 443. By using TOR, which is short for The Onion Router, you can surf the internet anonymously.

More: http://www.davidotokiblog.com/2017/10/why-vpns-is-illegal-in-china.html

If you're traveling to China, you’re going to have a problem accessing your favorite sites. That’s because China uses a Firewall, also known as the Great Firewall of China, to block and censor content. Gmail, Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter are just a few of the thousands of sites you cannot access in China. You ca read about it on Anta Net blog there you can find reviews on the best vpn china.
Here’s what you get when you use a VPN:

Access to blocked content
Faster speeds
Security and encryption
Anonymity