How Can I Use Direct Connect in China?

By Marcos SabioLast Updated on Aug 29, 2025

China’s complex internet landscape demands more than standard connectivity solutions. Statistics show that 53% of mobile site visitors will leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load making performance critical for business success. Direct Connect services provide dedicated, high-speed pathways that bypass common bottlenecks.

This guide explains how Direct Connect solutions improve connectivity to China, covering implementation strategies, provider comparisons, and compliance requirements.

What are China’s Connectivity Challenges?

China’s internet infrastructure creates unique obstacles that standard internet connections cannot efficiently overcome.

The Great Firewall Impact: China’s internet filtering system (the Great Firewall) introduces unpredictable latency spikes and packet loss, particularly affecting international traffic that requires deep packet inspection. Domains can be completely blocked rendering major websites such as Google and YouTube inaccessible.

Limited International Bandwidth: China maintains strict control over international internet gateways, creating natural bottlenecks during peak hours when competing with millions of users for limited capacity.

Routing Inefficiencies: International traffic often traverses suboptimal paths through multiple countries, adding 200-500ms of unnecessary latency compared to direct routing.

Regulatory Compliance Requirements: Standard internet connections offer limited control over data routing and compliance with Chinese data localisation laws.

What is the Benefit of Using Direct Connect in China?

Direct Connect establishes dedicated, private network connections between your original infrastructure that is running your existing application system and Chinese application deployment networks, bypassing the public internet entirely.

A simple representation of Direct Connect architecture

Accelerating front-end resources can be easily achieved with a CDN, but back-end data services are often deployed in overseas cloud regions. While it is technically possible to access them over the public internet, this frequently results in high latency and instability, which can severely impact application performance and user experience.

Direct Connect establishes a dedicated network link between China and overseas cloud regions, avoiding the uncertainties of the public internet. This significantly reduces latency, ensuring faster access to back-end services; improves stability by minimizing network jitter and packet loss; and optimizes costs by removing the need to replicate complex back-end systems within China.

Unlike standard internet connections that share bandwidth and routing with millions of users, Direct Connect provides:

Dedicated Bandwidth: Guaranteed throughput that doesn’t fluctuate with internet traffic patterns
Predictable Performance: Consistent latency and minimal packet loss through private routing
Enhanced Security: Traffic travels through private networks rather than public internet infrastructure
Regulatory Advantages: Better alignment with Chinese data sovereignty and security requirements

What are Direct Connect Options in China?

Most global cloud providers have Direct Connect services for China. Below are some of the prominent cloud providers in China along with links to their official Direct Connect service details.

AWS Direct Connect to China

AWS offers Direct Connect services through partnerships with Chinese telecommunications providers, creating hybrid cloud connectivity solutions. Amazon Direct Connect FAQs

Microsoft Azure China ExpressRoute

Microsoft’s ExpressRoute provides dedicated connections to Azure China regions through partnerships with local carriers. ExpressRoute FAQ

Alibaba Cloud Express Connect

As China’s largest cloud provider, Alibaba Cloud offers Express Connect with deep integration into Chinese internet infrastructure.

Tencent Direct Connect

Tencent’s Direct Connect provides high-speed dedicated connectivity to Tencent Cloud’s China regions.

Huawei Direct Connect

Huawei’s Direct Connect delivers secure, high-performance network links within China and to global Huawei Cloud regions.

How Can I Implement Direct Connect in China?

Taking AWS as an example, let’s consider a scenario where an application is deployed in China but needs stable, low-latency access to back-end services in the United States. Implementing AWS Direct Connect between a China Region and a U.S. Region typically involves the following steps:

1. Plan Your Network Architecture

Decide which services or databases in the U.S. Region need to be accessed from China. Evaluate bandwidth requirements, expected traffic volume, and redundancy needs. At this stage, it’s common to design for high availability by considering redundant links or multiple Direct Connect locations.

2. Apply for AWS Direct Connect

AppInChina will help you create an AWS China account and complete the ICP Filing (ICP备案). And you will get familiar with AWS China regions and products. AppInChina will provide the necessary guidance and resource support during this process. AppInChina is an important partner of AWS China and has extensive experience in enabling Direct Connect.

The Direct Connect location (a physical colocation facility in China where AWS has presence).
The target AWS Region in the U.S. that you want to connect to. AWS will then provide a Letter of Authorization (LOA) for the physical cross-connect.

3. Establish the Physical Connection

Coordinate with a network provider or colocation partner in China. They will set up the cross-connect between your network equipment and the AWS Direct Connect router at the chosen location. This step often requires working with a licensed Chinese telecom carrier. AppInChina can collaborate with China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobil on your behalf.

4. Configure Virtual Interfaces (VIFs)

Once the physical link is ready, configure Virtual Interfaces in the AWS Console:

Private VIF: To connect directly to your VPC in the U.S. Region.
Public VIF: To access AWS public services (e.g., S3, DynamoDB) over Direct Connect. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) will be used to exchange routing information.

5. Connect to Your VPC in the U.S.

If you need to reach VPCs in the U.S., create a Direct Connect Gateway. This allows your China-based Direct Connect link to reach multiple VPCs across different Regions, simplifying management.

6. Test and Optimize

Validate connectivity, measure latency improvements, and set up monitoring. For mission-critical workloads, consider deploying redundant connections (active/standby or load balanced) to prevent downtime.

A common configuration is to have:

One or more Direct Connect links from China to a local AWS Direct Connect location.
A Direct Connect Gateway that bridges these links to multiple U.S. VPCs.
VPN over Direct Connect as a backup, ensuring failover if the dedicated link goes down.

This hybrid setup balances cost, performance, and reliability, while making sure that business operations in China have consistent access to U.S.-hosted services.

What Performance Improvement Can I Expect?

Direct Connect implementations typically achieve significant performance improvements compared to standard internet connections:

Latency Reductions

Typical Improvements:

North America to China: 280ms to 160ms (43% improvement)
Europe to China: 320ms to 190ms (41% improvement)
Asia-Pacific to China: 120ms to 45ms (63% improvement)

Note: Actual performance improvements vary based on specific routing, provider infrastructure, and network conditions.

Throughput Consistency

Standard internet connections to China often experience 40-70% throughput degradation during peak hours. Direct Connect maintains consistent performance with less than 5% variation.

Packet Loss Mitigation

While public internet connections to China typically experience 2-8% packet loss, Direct Connect services maintain less than 0.1% packet loss under normal operating conditions.

What About Compliance with Local Laws?

Direct Connect solutions offer compliance capabilities for operating in China’s regulatory environment:

Data Localisation Compliance

Under Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) Article 40 (个人信息保护法第四十条), critical infrastructure operators are required to store personal information collected in China domestically China’s digital data sovereignty laws and regulations – InCountry. Regarding this data residency aspect, Direct Connect services provide:

Controlled data routing that maintains Chinese residency.
Audit trails for regulatory compliance reporting.
Integration with Chinese data centers for local storage requirements.

Under Cybersecurity Law Article 37 (网络安全法第三十七条), Critical Information Infrastructure Operators are required to store personal information and important data within China’s territory. Regarding this localization requirement, Direct Connect services enable:

Technical infrastructure to maintain data residency.
Secure cloud connectivity without cross-border data transfers.
Compliance with territorial data storage mandates.

Cybersecurity Law Alignment

Under Data Security Law Article 31 (数据安全法第三十一条), organizations are required to implement outbound security management for important data collected by critical infrastructure operators. Regarding this security management aspect, Direct Connect services offer:

Enhanced security through private routing.
Detailed logging for security audits.
Compliance documentation for regulatory reporting.

Business License Integration Direct Connect services typically require coordination with Chinese legal entities, providing:

Proper business registration for telecommunications services.
Local partnerships, such as AppInChina, in order to meet compliance requirements.
Integration with Chinese telecommunications licensing requirements.

How Long Does it Take to Setup Direct Connect in China?

Direct Connect implementation typically requires 1 to 2 months from initial assessment to full deployment, though more complex solutions may take longer.

How Much Does Direct Connect Cost?

Pricing for Direct Connect services can vary greatly depending on the cloud provider, port speed, and data usage. Most cloud providers provide a public version of their pricing calculator to estimate costs.

It is important to note that there are two types of costs:

Direct Connect usage costs (data transfer, port hours, etc.), listed in provider pricing calculators below.

Direct Connect service fees (monthly/annual port charges), often listed separately on provider marketplaces such as the AWS Global Marketplace.

In addition to published rates, companies can also contact China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Mobile directly to negotiate better pricing and terms. AppInChina can assist with this process.

Here are specific pricing details for:

It is worth noting that at AppInChina, we can contact the major Chinese telecommunication companies, China Unicom, Telecom and Mobile to negotiate betting pricing and terms.

How Can AppInChina Help?

Direct Connect solutions provide the foundation for reliable, compliant, and high-performance connectivity to China. We can help by:

Creating a cloud account of your selected provider e.g., AWS China under our Chinese entity
Obtaining the ICP Filing (ICP备案) to ensure you remain compliant while using Direct Connect services.
Providing you with price reductions through our partnership with cloud providers and telecommunication providers.
Providing ongoing technical support to ensure smooth deployment of Direct Connect services.

Ready to implement Direct Connect for your China operations? Contact our specialists for a custom assessment of your connectivity requirements and an implementation roadmap.