On October 13, 2025, China took a major step forward in mobile technology.
The country's three major telecom operators — China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom — announced that they had received official approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to conduct commercial trials of eSIM services for smartphones. The service is now available in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the Chinese mainland.
This marks the first time that eSIM technology has been officially extended from Internet of Things devices and smart wearables to smartphones on a national scale, entering a new phase of commercial application.
New experience
Electronic SIM or eSIM, short for embedded SIM, integrates the traditional SIM card directly into a device's chip. There is no need for a removable physical card.
"If a traditional SIM card is like a 'removable USB drive,' then an eSIM is like a 'solid-state drive soldered onto the motherboard,'" explained Yan Huaizhi, director of the Institute of Computer Network Attack and Defense at Beijing Institute of Technology, in an interview with Science and Technology Daily. He compared the eSIM to a "digital ID" permanently embedded in a phone's hardware, storing identity credentials such as phone numbers and account encryption keys directly within the device.
Compared with phones that use physical SIM cards, eSIM-enabled smartphones allow users to freely switch between multiple carrier profiles. They also free up internal space, allowing more room for larger batteries, advanced cameras, and other components. The absence of a SIM card slot reduces openings in the device, significantly improving water and dust resistance.
In terms of function, eSIM phones offer the same core services as those with physical SIM cards, including voice calls, text messaging and mobile data. Users can also activate value-added services such as international roaming based on their needs.
More secure
Because an eSIM has no physical form, it eliminates the risks associated with losing, stealing, or tampering with a physical card.
Yan added that although some people worry eSIMs could be easier to hack, in reality, they are more secure. A physical SIM card is more like a "portable wallet" that can be taken and misused.
Physically, the eSIM is embedded on the phone's mainboard; removing it would require destroying the device. Technically, critical information is transmitted through encrypted TLS (Transport Layer Security) channels and requires user authorization for activation. To clone or copy an eSIM, attackers would need to break the chip's encryption and bypass the carrier's server authentication — a highly difficult task.
Chen Fengwei, deputy general manager of China Unicom VSENS Communications Co., Ltd., stated that eSIM offers greater security than traditional SIM cards in two key areas: technical architecture, such as data encryption and anti-tampering mechanisms, and physical design, as the built-in structure prevents wear from repeated insertions and blocks unauthorized replacement.
However, like physical SIM cards, eSIMs are not completely immune to risks such as cloning or unauthorized transfers. According to security guidelines, users can enhance eSIM security by using strong passwords and biometric authentication, enabling two-factor authentication, and regularly updating device software and carrier settings.