On October 14, 2026, the South China Morning Post reported that updated network-access permits from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) list Apple Intelligence, Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen and Tongyi Wanxiang for iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro and several earlier Apple models. Apple’s current documentation says Apple Intelligence features do not work on supported devices purchased in mainland China. SCMP disclosed that Alibaba owns the newspaper.
SCMP describes Tongyi Qianwen, also known as Qwen, as Alibaba Cloud’s large-language-model family. Tongyi Wanxiang specializes in generating images and videos from text.
What Apple says about access
Apple lists iPhone 15 Pro models and iPhone 16 models or later among the iPhones compatible with Apple Intelligence. Its support page says the features do not currently work on supported devices purchased in mainland China. Apple says compatible devices previously purchased there will be able to activate and use Apple Intelligence in mainland China when the features become available there. (Apple Support)
Apple’s feature-availability page lists Siri AI as unavailable in mainland China. (Apple’s feature-availability page)
An earlier registration report
A Reuters report republished by GBM and dated July 15, 2026, said China’s Cyberspace Administration had announced a registration for Apple Intelligence use on iPhones. Reuters also reported that Alibaba said Qwen would be integrated across Apple’s iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS in China, and that a Baidu spokesperson said Baidu was collaborating with Apple on China-specific iPhone features. The Reuters account concerned a CAC registration; the October report concerned MIIT network-access permits. (GBM’s republication of the Reuters report)
