Alipay
- +86 571 2688 6000
- 0571 2688 6000 from a Chinese number
Ant International publishes staffed hours of 08:00-24:00 GMT+8, Monday to Sunday.
Device recovery
Your phone is gone in China, with everything in it
In short
My phone was stolen. What do I do first?
Borrow a phone before you do anything else. Freeze WeChat from the login screen: More Options, Safety Center, Freeze Account. Then call your wallet's support line, and report the theft to local police. Your train tickets are held against your passport, not the handset, so they survive. If the passport went too, your embassy and the exit-entry administration are two separate errands.
Open the recovery kitApplies to
Anyone whose phone was stolen, lost or destroyed mid-trip, and travellers deciding now what they would do if it happened.
Check before you rely on it
No Alipay-owned English page documenting a lost-device or freeze flow for the mainland app was reachable, so this page publishes a phone number instead of a menu path. The freeze pages that surface in search belong to AlipayHK, a separate product.
Review date: 2026-07-25
The problem is not the handset. It is that the handset was holding your money, your bookings and your proof of who you are, and every fix for that needs a second device.
In the first hour
Seven moves, in this order
- 1.Borrow a phone or get to a laptop. Every action below needs a second device, which is why the hotel front desk is the right first stop.
- 2.Freeze WeChat. From the login screen on the borrowed device: More Options, then Safety Center, then Freeze Account. If your friend is already logged in on their own account, they can use Me, Settings, Account and Security, then Help a Friend Freeze WeChat.
- 3.Call your wallet's support line. The numbers below are published by the central bank's visitor guide and are the one recovery route that does not depend on the app you just lost.
- 4.Report the theft to the local police. The UK's travel advice tells travellers to report crime to local police, and an insurance claim will ask for that report.
- 5.Check your passport is still on you. If it went with the phone, your embassy handles the new passport and the Chinese exit-entry administration handles the visa or permit reissue. They are two separate jobs.
- 6.Stop worrying about your train tickets. A rail booking is held against the passport you bought it with, not against the phone.
- 7.Call +86-12367 if you are stuck on anything to do with your documents or your permitted stay. English is answered directly, around the clock.
Freezing the wallet app
How do I freeze WeChat without my phone?
Neither one needs the missing handset. Both are on the WeChat Safety Center page linked below.
- From any device. At the WeChat login screen tap More Options, then Safety Center, then Freeze Account, then follow the instructions.
- Through a friend. On their own logged-in phone: Me, then Settings, then Account and Security, then Help a Friend Freeze WeChat.
- Expect a repeat. Freezing from a signed-out state may ask for your login details more than once. That is the published behaviour.
What was actually inside it
Which of these is really lost, and which is not
Most of the panic is about things that were never stored in the handset in the first place.
| What was in the phone | Status | What to do about it |
|---|---|---|
| WeChat account and chats | Freeze it now | The operator publishes two freeze routes and both work without the device. Freezing does not delete the account. |
| Weixin Pay or Alipay balance | Phone call, not an app | Call the published support line. No Alipay-owned English page documents a lost-device freeze for the mainland app, so this page does not print a menu path for one. |
| Train tickets | Not lost | Foreign passengers buy real-name tickets against a passport and show that document to enter, leave and board. The booking survives the phone. |
| Passport | The one that stops you flying | Printed copies are not accepted at a police check, and failure to produce ID can lead to a fine or detention. Embassy first, then the exit-entry administration for the visa or permit. |
| Chinese mobile number | Not covered by any source we could open | No operator publishes an English procedure for replacing a SIM issued against a foreign passport, so this page will not guess at one. |
| Hotel booking and address | Call the property | The booking exists on the property's system. This is why the first fix is a borrowed phone rather than a new one. |
Who answers the phone
Payment support lines that do not need the lost app
Published by the central bank's visitor guide. A call is the only wallet recovery route that survives losing the device.
Weixin Pay
- +86-571-95017
UnionPay
- +86-21-95516
- +86-21-20556900
- 95516 from a Chinese mainland number
e-CNY
- +86-10-956196
Published as a 24-hour line.
Reference as: Guide to Payment Services in China (People's Bank of China) · Alipay+ | Pay in the Chinese mainland (Ant International)
The published facts
What the operators and the authorities say, line by line
Each line links the source page and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-07-25.
Freezing WeChat from the login screen
On any device, open WeChat, tap More Options at the login screen, then Safety Center, then Freeze Account, and follow the on-screen instructions. You do not need the lost handset.
Freeze Account (WeChat Safety Center (Tencent), read 2026-07-25)
Freezing WeChat through a friend
If a friend is logged in on their own phone, they can go to Me, then Settings, then Account and Security, then Help a Friend Freeze WeChat. This is the route to use when you cannot get a verification code.
Freeze Account (WeChat Safety Center (Tencent), read 2026-07-25)
Expect to sign in more than once
The operator warns that freezing from a signed-out state, or freezing a Weixin account, may ask for login information more than once. That is the published behaviour, not a failure.
Freeze Account (WeChat Safety Center (Tencent), read 2026-07-25)
Your rail ticket is attached to your passport
Foreign passengers buy real-name tickets with a valid passport, and the passenger shows that ID document to check in and out of the station and to board the train. The ticket does not live in the phone.
China Railway 12306 English FAQ, Endorsement and Refund (China Railway 12306, read 2026-07-25)
If the passport went too, before you board
A passenger who lost the ID document before boarding applies for an ID certificate, a provisional railway ID certificate included, from a competent issuing authority, and boards with that certificate.
China Railway 12306 English FAQ, Endorsement and Refund (China Railway 12306, read 2026-07-25)
If the passport went while you were on the train
A passenger who loses the ID document after boarding and before leaving the station applies for a replacement ticket and pays a service fee. Within 30 days they can claim the refund at any station with the replacement ID certificate and the replacement ticket.
China Railway 12306 English FAQ, Endorsement and Refund (China Railway 12306, read 2026-07-25)
A screenshot of an itinerary sheet is not a ticket
China Railway states plainly that neither the itinerary sheet nor the reimbursement receipt can be used as a ticket, so recovering an image of one from your email does not solve the gate.
China Railway 12306 English FAQ, Endorsement and Refund (China Railway 12306, read 2026-07-25)
Carry the passport, not a photo of it
Always carry your passport. Police carry out random checks, particularly during heightened security and major events. Printed copies are not accepted, and failure to produce ID can lead to a fine or detention.
Foreign travel advice: China — Safety and security (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
Report the theft
The UK's travel advice tells travellers who are victims of crime to report it to local police. The same page warns about QR code phishing, which is worth reading before you start scanning codes on a borrowed phone.
Foreign travel advice: China — Safety and security (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
Reissuing the visa or permit is a separate counter
Where an ordinary visa, stay permit or residence permit needs reissuing after loss, theft or robbery following entry, the holder applies at the exit-entry administration of the public security organ at or above county level in the place of stay. Your embassy replaces the passport; this office replaces the Chinese document inside it.
Article 35 · Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2021-03-10, read 2026-07-25)
A number that answers in English at 3am
The China Immigration Service Hotline on +86-12367 gives an immediate, direct voice response in English, with staff support around the clock, and also runs through the NIA 12367 app and its WeChat and Alipay mini-programs.
China Immigration Service Hotline 12367 Now Supports French (National Immigration Administration, page dated 2025-12-11, read 2026-07-25)
In short
Lost phone questions
The questions people type with borrowed hands, in the order they usually arrive.
My phone was stolen. What do I do in the first ten minutes?
Borrow a phone. Freeze WeChat from the login screen: More Options, Safety Center, Freeze Account. Then call your wallet's support line. Then report the theft to local police, because your insurer will ask for that report. Everything else can wait an hour.
How do I freeze WeChat if I cannot receive a verification code?
Use a friend who is logged in on their own account. They go to Me, then Settings, then Account and Security, then Help a Friend Freeze WeChat. The operator also warns you may be asked for login details more than once when freezing from a signed-out state.
How do I freeze Alipay?
We could not open an Alipay-owned English page that documents a lost-device or freeze procedure for the mainland app, so this page does not print one. Call the published support line instead. Freeze pages that appear in search results belong to AlipayHK, which is a different product.
My train tickets were in the phone. Have I lost them?
No. Foreign passengers buy real-name tickets with a passport and show that passport to enter, leave and board. The booking is held against the document, not the handset. Note that an itinerary sheet or a reimbursement receipt is not a ticket either way.
What if my passport was in the same bag?
That is the one that stops you flying. Your embassy issues the replacement passport. Separately, the exit-entry administration of the public security organ at or above county level in your place of stay handles the reissue of the Chinese visa, stay permit or residence permit under Article 35.
Who can I call in English?
For anything about documents or your permitted stay, +86-12367 answers English directly through voice response and runs around the clock. For payments, the wallet support numbers on this page come from the central bank's visitor guide.
Not published
What we could not confirm
Everywhere else will invent a menu path for you. Here is where the operator documentation actually stops.
- No Alipay-owned English page documenting a lost-device or freeze flow for the mainland app was reachable. The AlipayHK freeze pages that surface in search cover a separate Hong Kong product and are not published here as the mainland route.
- The WeChat freeze page publishes the procedure only. It does not say what freezing does to a wallet balance, a linked card or a payment already in flight.
- No operator publishes an English procedure for replacing a Chinese mobile number issued against a foreign passport.
- No operator-published English lost-property procedure could be opened for DiDi, for a city taxi authority, or for China Railway, so this page does not tell you how to chase a bag left in a vehicle.
- No source we opened states whether a Chinese police report is issued in a form a foreign insurer will accept.
Arrival recovery kit
The wider set of failure states: a declined payment, a dead eSIM, an app that will not verify.
Open the kitIf your days are running out
Losing a passport can also cost you the flight home. The extension route, the deadline, and what an overstay costs.
Open pageIf you are ill as well
Where to go, who answers in English, and who pays when you have no working phone.
Open page