Thanks, It seems I misunderstood the restrictions when they were first introduced. The purpose appears to be preserving the Great Firewall by preventing Chinese citizens from easily bypassing it with a foreign eSIM. Unlike a physical SIM, which must be imported and activated abroad, a foreign eSIM could be downloaded directly onto a domestic phone, making circumvention much simpler. By restricting eSIM activation, authorities effectively require someone to import a separate device, such as an iPhone purchased overseas, and keep it alongside their domestic phone if they want to activate and use a foreign eSIM within China. I had first read about these restrictions when the iPhone Air was announced but not yet released, and at the time the rules were not clearly explained, which led to my initial misunderstanding. Thanks so much!