8 Key Differences: AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud for China

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud is rarely a straightforward choice for global businesses operating in China.

You need more than just technical feature comparisons; your cloud strategy must address legal restrictions, cross-border connectivity, trilingual support, and compliance for both headquarters and China teams.

This article outlines the practical differences multinationals must understand to achieve both global consistency and local reliability when deploying cloud in China.

1. Operating Model in Mainland China

Here’s where most multinationals hit a wall when comparing AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud for China. Not all cloud “regions” are created equal behind the Great Firewall. Your decisions on procurement, support, and integration start from how these cloud giants actually operate within China.

• AWS China runs as two isolated regions through local partners: Beijing (operated by Sinnet) and Ningxia (operated by NWCD). Accounts, billing, and support are fully local, separate from AWS Global. This means you manage RMB contracts and legal terms unique to China, not the same as what your HQ signs elsewhere.
• Azure China is offered via 21Vianet, functioning as a sovereign instance. Azure AD, Microsoft 365, and cloud services are separated from their global equivalents. SLAs and support structures are distinct, often with custom rollout calendars and feature delays.
• Google Cloud has no regions in mainland China. For most teams, the closest option is Hong Kong or Singapore, using careful hybrid architectures to keep core data out of the mainland and rely on lawful cross-border networking.

For most regulated industries or projects requiring RMB billing, AWS China and Azure China shine, but at the cost of separate contracts and slower service parity. If your workloads can legally reside outside, Google Cloud may be viable for increased agility.

Side-by-side, each provider’s China location demands a different procurement process and compliance cadence. Treat every China cloud account as a standalone legal and operational entity.

Top Reasons These Operating Models Matter:

• Legal isolation: Everything from tax documents to compliance audits must run through separate entities. Your headquarters can’t simply “add China” to the global cloud contract.
• Support segregation: Local operators define support queues, escalation paths, and feature releases. Delays are real.
• Identity and billing split: Even login credentials, MFA policies, and account trees split across China and the rest of the world.

2. Service Availability and Feature Parity

Trying to replicate your global architecture in China? Not so fast. Service listings, updates, and features differ. Most multinationals discover this late and struggle to untangle what’s actually available in China from their preferred hyperscaler.

Service Coverage Breakdown

Let’s get concrete:

• AWS China offers about 121–122 services per region, versus nearly 400 globally. Want the latest AI, managed certificates, or advanced analytics? Check the catalog. Many new features are delayed or missing until regulatory approval.
• Azure China trails the global pace. Some API families, monitoring stacks, and named services diverge from global Azure by months or years.
• Google Cloud services are absent in China itself. You access only what’s legal to reach from outside, and features like managed secrets or AI assistants may be off-limits.

Building a China-Ready Service Map:

• List required cloud services and check China region parity for each. Substitute missing pieces (such as managed KMS or tracing) with open source or partner alternatives.
• Parameterize all deployment and automation templates for regional endpoints. Avoid relying on defaults or global scripts.
• Set up an explicit governance layer to track service rollouts and deltas between global and China footprints.

The single biggest risk? Outages and security gaps from scripts and modules that assume global service names will “just work” in China.

3. Tenant and Identity Separation

Here’s the hidden iceberg: identity in China clouds works differently and will shape your compliance and collaboration from day one. Each provider splits tenants at the root level, affecting IAM, RBAC, and SSO.

What to Watch on Identity

• AWS China demands full separation. Account roots, IAM setup, and organization structures aren’t connected to your global AWS org unless you bridge them manually.
• Azure China stands apart with its own Azure AD tenant and Microsoft 365 operated by 21Vianet. Access controls, MFA, B2B setups, and compliance policies must be recreated or mirrored — they don’t carry over automatically.
• Google Cloud lets you share some identity patterns at the edge, but your actual data and workloads aren’t inside China.

Key Risks and Fixes for Multinational Teams:

• Disconnected tenants can prompt shadow admins and untracked credential sprawl. Define ownership, credential rotation, and cross-tenant visibility from day one.
• Cross-tenant SSO, consent flows, and enforcement of conditional access differ for Azure and Microsoft 365 in China. Map these differences in your rollout plan or risk data leaks.
• Our IT Audit Services help teams pre-map identity boundaries and fix weaknesses before deployment, saving major remediation costs later.

Plan every China cloud account as its own security boundary. Sync RBAC and SSO patterns only where vendor federation supports it.

4. Compliance, ICP, and Data Residency

Getting your China cloud investment online means meeting ICP, CBDT, and data residency requirements. The wrong move here puts your whole rollout at risk.

What You Must Do

• If your app or site goes live in China, ICP filing is required. No shortcut. Prepare local entity documents, budget weeks for filings, and check if you need a commercial license.
• The 2024 and 2026 regulatory regime clarifies lawful cross-border data flows. If data crosses the border, map your volume, run a PIPIA, and prepare certifications or standardized contracts early.
• Sector-specific rules exist for finance, education, and healthcare. Secure all audit trails and evidence, not just the minimum documentation.

Checklist for China Compliance:

• Always keep an updated inventory of data flows and residency needs.
• Treat compliance as an architectural principle. Don’t bolt it on later.
• Maintain an “evidence repository” linking ICP receipts, assessment documents, and certification records for audit-readiness.

If your corporate policy and China data laws clash, align with PRC regulations and maintain clear documentation for both.

5. Cross‑Border Connectivity and Performance

You want your users in China to have the same experience as everywhere else. The reality is, latency, packet loss, and the Great Firewall shut that dream down fast—unless you engineer for it.

Practical Connection Strategies

• Licensed enterprise VPNs, MPLS links, and hybrid SD-WAN setups keep packets legal and fast. Don’t risk unregistered VPNs or IPsec tunnels—they break, and they break compliance.
• Strategic handoffs at Hong Kong or Singapore for Google Cloud, then lawful SD-WAN or CDN for user experience deep inside the mainland.
• Using telco-approved CDN solutions dramatically slashes load times for static assets. Always check that your CDN and edge providers are licensed.

What Jet IT Services Delivers:

• With our International Connectivity Solutions, you get high-availability, licensed architectures that accelerate Teams, SharePoint, and ERP stacks for China-based users. We handle licensed SD-WANs, on-net peering, and on-the-ground troubleshooting.

Building a China-ready cloud means mastering not just the cloud, but the circuits, endpoints, and legal checkboxes that keep the experience consistent.

Every decision you make around AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud in China directly impacts your cost, compliance workload, and user experience. Get this foundation right, and you unlock momentum, not headaches.

6. Collaboration and SaaS Integration in China

You want your teams working together—files syncing, chats flowing, projects moving. In China, though, the way you set up collaboration tools will make or break your productivity and compliance.

Collaboration solutions like Microsoft 365, Teams, and SharePoint operate differently, depending on the cloud model you choose.

• Microsoft 365 China is its own world. Operated by 21Vianet, it offers separate endpoints, security controls, and feature sets that don’t always mirror the global product. Some advanced features lag behind. You get strong local reliability, but must rethink certain security and compliance flows.
• If you’re using AWS China, pairing it with Microsoft 365 China is efficient. Data stays local, compliance is easier, and you get less cross-border lag.
• Hosting on Google Cloud means no local China region. Your Teams and file shares live outside the firewall, so you depend more on cross-border optimization and must manage lawful data flows every step.

How to Structure Collaboration for Real Results:

• Map all sensitive content and user traffic. Decide if it can cross borders or if it must stay in China.
• Where possible, localize file storage and authentication for low latency and smoother compliance.
• Use performance tuning—edge caching, relay proxies, and legal SD-WAN solutions—to keep global users connected.

Here at Jet IT Services, we deliver Microsoft 365 in China integration and bilingual enablement so your global and China-based teams can collaborate without confusion or stalling. We optimize endpoints for Teams, SharePoint, and more, taking care of compliance and user experience.

The decisions you make in collaboration architecture ripple through your whole business—get this wrong, and silos, lag, and risk show up everywhere.

7. Billing, Contracts, and Support Experience

You want clarity on budgets and fast fixes when things go wrong. In China, even billing and support models get reshuffled. If you don’t plan for this, you’ll end up with mismatched cost reports and slow support when you need it most.

• AWS China and Azure China do contracts and billing only through their licensed local partners. You get RMB invoices, local SLAs, and a China-specific compliance playbook. Your global FinOps dashboards won’t just “pull in” these costs.
• Google Cloud has no local billing or support presence. You rely on global agreements and currency, but with the trade-off of external data residency.
• Onboarding vendors in China means handling local tax docs, VAT, POs, and even different service credit rules.

Checklist for Smooth China IT Operations:

• Line up local procurement expertise for tax, invoicing, and contract renewals. Don’t let surprise paperwork halt your project.
• Always identify a local support contact and escalation path in China—waiting on global queues risks major downtime.
• Integrate China cloud spend into your cost management dashboards. RMB, VAT, and exchange rates matter for real TCO.

Our Managed IT and Co-Managed IT solutions keep your operations in sync between China and your headquarters, blending bilingual support, on-site help, and vendor liaisons so nothing falls through the cracks.

Treat every China cloud contract and support plan as a separate business service—there’s no shortcut to global “one-size-fits-all” here.

8. Market Context and Strategic Positioning

The China cloud market is not just a smaller version of the global game; it follows its own rules, politics, and tech trends. Western hyperscalers like AWS, Azure, and Google do not control the field—instead, local regulations and market leaders define your choices.

If you want to move fast, you need to accept trade-offs in compliance and service coverage. If you need deep control, you’ll need to align with China’s cloud cadence, local standards, and approval cycles.

Smart Multinationals Build Their Playbooks for China:

• Commit early to your legal, data residency, and compliance obligations. These will drive your decision on what to host where.
• Monitor policy changes from regulators. Proactive tracking reduces last-minute surprises on data transfer or service availability.
• Map out your partner ecosystem. Working with licensed integrators and CDNs accelerates onboarding and reduces regulatory friction.

China demands its own cloud playbook. Build for local realities, not just global wish lists.

How to Choose: A China Cloud Buyer’s Guide for Multinationals

Ready to put it all together? The decision framework below keeps your planning focused, actionable, and always tied to business goals.

• Decide on data residency first. Must it stay inside China? If yes, shortlist AWS China and Azure China. If not, assess global-hosted options.
• Catalog your critical managed services. Adjust your architecture to China’s available offerings and fill gaps with reliable substitutes.
• Design your identity and access plan with explicit tenant separation. Address SSO, RBAC, and credential risks for China and global users.
• Engineer your connectivity blueprint for lawful, high-performance access—test, measure, and optimize from every office.
• Prepare for ICP filing and compliance at the start. Avoid last-minute scrambles by locking in documentation and regulatory filings early.
• Model all costs and contracts by region and legal entity. Build bilingual support into every SLA.

Here at Jet IT Services, our International Connectivity Solutions, Microsoft 365 in China integrations, IT Audit Services, and Managed IT set you up for success from the ground up—no guesswork, just practical, proven IT rollouts that pass every audit, enable team speed, and deliver results in both English and Chinese.

To thrive in China, your cloud must be built on clarity, compliance, and relentless focus on real business outcomes. Get this right, and you unlock growth where most competitors stall.

About JET IT Services

JET helps businesses in China overcome IT challenges with reliable, compliant, and secure solutions. From network optimization to cybersecurity, we ensure your IT systems run smoothly so you can focus on what matters most—growing your business!