This is alongside updated pricing plans (linked tariff for non-iPhone users), promising greater data quota’s than previous packages and China Mobile’s current offerings. The higher the service plan used, the cheaper the iPhone is sold for. This offer requires a 24 month service commitment.

Details of 3G and 3GS pricing and service plans available on China Unicom Online Store (or in English via Google Translate). There are slight differences over the standard packages, notably increased data quota and free SMS bundles.

Note: Chinese iPhones have WiFi disabled, but are not carrier locked. For a full featured unlocked phone, consider purchasing from Apple Store Hong Kong. Or wait for a WAPI/WiFi release in China.

Update 2010-11-12:
iPhone 4 has superseded the 3G/3Gs for a while now, and therefore the above is no longer relevant. Chinese iPhone 4 now includes WiFi, and is sold with updated pricing plans. Contract period remains 24 months, with upfront payment of RMB5,880. This is rebated in airtime, depending on your chosen package, with the RMB 286+ packages giving 100% rebate on phone cost, and RMB 96 plan rebating only RMB 1981.

Existing 186RMB plan remains (510mins talk-time) but now with 650mb data allowance. The cheapest 96RMB plan includes 240mins talk-time and 300mb data. 126RMB will get you 320mins and 400mb data.

Those interested in downgrading to the new cheaper plans should contact China Unicom customer service at 10010.

Additionally, previous 2G customers on 13x numbers can now also switch to 3G service without changing number or SIM card.

Update: Plan details now available online, but in Chinese only. I include a brief overview in English below:

All plans include free incoming calls nationwide. Domestic roaming & long distance dialing within China now inclusive in talk time with standardised nationwide pricing.

66RMB plan now available to all including non-students

Update 2010-11-11: The above 3G tariff plans still valid, but more options are now available. 3G plans are now split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ group – those listed above represent current ‘A’ group plans. ‘B’ group plans offer more talk time with less data, as below:

Additionally, SMS packages are now available for a small monthly surcharge:

Whilst I still don’t know why the above is true, I found the following:

1) Use China Mobile settings (APN: CMNET) for GPRS / 3G Data with no proxy works fine. MMS should be received using WAP profile (APN: CMWAP , MMSC: http://mmsc.monternet.com , Gateway or Proxy: 10.0.0.172. Port 80 for HTTP, port 9201 for WAP)

I don’t know if this is just compatibility, or a problem with China Mobile’s network.

2) The settings Unicom customer service now provide will only work through a proxy.
GPRS APN: 3gwap
WAP APN: 3gnet
- for both must set proxy through 10.0.0.172 . These settings provide support for web (HTTP) traffic only.

3) Older data suggests to use:
GPRS APN: uninet
WAP APN: uniwap
MMSC: mmsc.myuni.com.cn
- I use this and it works. No proxy needed for GPRS ; but use 10.0.0.172 (as above) for MMS. Works across all protocols (MSN, FTP etc…) unlike 3G settings.

Therefore if you have a China Unicom 3G card and have been given the new settings, don’t bother. It’s just more complicated, and using 3gwap non-HTTP based services will not work.

Note: I’ve subsequently discovered this site claiming that for certain applications like Mobile Television you must use the 3G settings. I haven’t tested.

Update: iPhone users will find that they can no longer change APN settings for China Unicom. Carrier settings are now auto detected upon insertion of SIM card and cannot be modified. Data therefore should just work.