Does Amazon DynamoDB Work in China? ICP, Data Residency & the Two Doors
Global DynamoDB keeps your China users' records in offshore AWS Regions — a PIPL cross-border transfer — while DynamoDB in-country runs only in the separate, Sinnet/NWCD-operated AWS China Regions, with a China account, a Chinese entity and an ICP filing. A compliance-first look at the two doors.
Does Amazon DynamoDB work in China?
Whether you can use Amazon DynamoDB in China is a data-residency question before it is a performance one. DynamoDB is where your application's records live — frequently personal information about your users — and China's law responds to where those tables physically sit, not to how fast they answer.
DynamoDB does run inside the mainland, but only in a walled-off world: by AWS's own site it "is available in Amazon Web Services China (Beijing) region, operated by Sinnet, and Amazon Web Services China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD" — a separate partition reached with a distinct China AWS account, a Chinese business license, and, for public workloads, an ICP filing. Your existing tables do not live there: DynamoDB global tables "automatically replicate your DynamoDB table data across AWS Regions" you choose, and every one of those is offshore. So the personal data you keep for China users is a cross-border transfer PIPL governs. The table below is AWS's own wording and the rules it triggers.
This is a risk picture, not a verdict — your obligations turn on your data volumes and your role. Our China team can map your DynamoDB exposure with you →
Compliance snapshot
- ! Global DynamoDB tables sit in offshore AWS Regions (US, EMEA, Asia Pacific) — no mainland-China region in the global partition
- ! Personal data you keep there for China users is a PIPL cross-border transfer and a data-residency exposure
- ✓ DynamoDB does run in-country — the Sinnet-operated Beijing and NWCD-operated Ningxia AWS China Regions
- ! But that partition is separate: a new China AWS account, a Chinese entity and ICP for public workloads; global credentials don't reach it
- ✓ A compliant in-country delivery path exists — no rebuild, no migration
What AWS DynamoDB's own documentation says about China
| Fact | Primary source |
|---|---|
| In AWS's own words, Amazon DynamoDB "is available in Amazon Web Services China (Beijing) region, operated by Sinnet, and Amazon Web Services China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD." Those Regions are a separate partition, not part of your global account: AWS's China page states that "Beijing Sinnet Technology Co., Ltd. (Sinnet) operates and provides cloud services in Amazon Web Services China (Beijing) Region," and that "Ningxia Western Cloud Data Technology Co., Ltd. (NWCD) operates and provides cloud services in Amazon Web Services China (Ningxia) Region." | Amazon Web Services — Amazon DynamoDB (amazonaws.cn) and Amazon Web Services in China, retrieved 2026-10-07 |
Global DynamoDB cannot reach the China partition. DynamoDB global tables, by AWS's developer guide, "automatically replicate your DynamoDB table data across AWS Regions" you select and are "available in all Regions where DynamoDB is available" — but AWS's global endpoint list for DynamoDB runs from the United States through EMEA and Asia Pacific (including Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore) with no mainland-China region; cn-north-1 and cn-northwest-1 live in the isolated China partition. Enabling global tables spreads data across more offshore Regions — it does not place it on Chinese soil. | AWS — DynamoDB Developer Guide (Global tables); AWS General Reference (DynamoDB endpoints and quotas), retrieved 2026-10-07 |
| Data gathered from users in China and written to an offshore DynamoDB Region leaves the country. PIPL governs that cross-border transfer: the personal-information handler (you, AWS's customer — not AWS) must give notice, obtain separate consent, and satisfy one transfer mechanism — a CAC security assessment, the CAC standard contract, or certification. | PIPL Chapter III, Articles 38–43 |
| The exposure scales with volume and role, not merely with using the service: under the CAC's March 2024 cross-border rules, a non-CIIO transferring fewer than 100,000 individuals' non-sensitive personal information in a calendar year is exempt from the security assessment, standard contract and certification. | CAC — Regulations on Promoting and Regulating Cross-border Data Flows, March 2024 |
| For a CIIO or large-volume handler, personal information collected in China must be stored inside mainland China (Cybersecurity Law Article 39 (formerly Article 37); PIPL Article 40). An offshore DynamoDB Region cannot meet that, so keeping your China users' records on Chinese soil means running DynamoDB in the Sinnet/NWCD China partition — and serving anything public-facing from there brings an ICP filing into the picture. | PIPL Article 40; Cybersecurity Law Article 39 (formerly Article 37) |
Sources verified by the 21YunBox compliance team on 2026-10-07.
For a mainland-China audience, the deciding question about Amazon DynamoDB is not how fast it answers — it is where your tables are allowed to live. DynamoDB does run inside the mainland, but only in a separate AWS partition reached through a Chinese entity, a distinct China account and, for public workloads, an ICP filing; keep your tables on global DynamoDB instead and your China users’ records stay offshore. Those are the two doors, and AWS documents both in its own words.
Amazon DynamoDB in China at a glance
| What decides it | In AWS's own terms |
|---|---|
| Where your tables run | Global DynamoDB stores each table in the AWS Region you choose. AWS's global endpoint list for DynamoDB runs from the United States through EMEA and Asia Pacific — including Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore — but shows no mainland-China region; those belong to a separate China partition. |
| Global tables stay in the global partition | DynamoDB global tables “automatically replicate your DynamoDB table data across AWS Regions” you select — all offshore. They do not replicate into the isolated China partition, so enabling them does not move data onto Chinese soil. |
| DynamoDB in-country does exist | By AWS's China site, DynamoDB “is available in Amazon Web Services China (Beijing) region, operated by Sinnet, and Amazon Web Services China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD” — a distinct partition, not a region of your global account. |
| Separate account & entity | Reaching that partition needs a distinct AWS (China) account and a Chinese business license; global credentials do not cross into it, and a public-facing workload needs an ICP filing. |
| Your data on global DynamoDB | Personal information of your China users stays outside the mainland — a cross-border transfer PIPL governs, on infrastructure that cannot be ICP-filed. |
Door one — DynamoDB in China is a separate, Sinnet/NWCD-operated partition
DynamoDB does run inside mainland China. On its China site, AWS lists DynamoDB among the products that “is available in Amazon Web Services China (Beijing) region, operated by Sinnet, and Amazon Web Services China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD.” Those Regions are not part of the account you already hold: AWS’s China operations are run by its Chinese partners — Sinnet in Beijing, NWCD in Ningxia — as a partition walled off from global AWS. Reaching it means a distinct AWS (China) account tied to a Chinese business license; your global credentials do not cross into it, and neither does a global DynamoDB table.
Serving a public-facing workload from inside the mainland then turns on an ICP filing (ICP 备案) under State Council Order No. 292 and MIIT Order No. 33. So “we already run on DynamoDB” does not carry into China: the in-country door is a Chinese entity, a separate China account, and — for anything public-facing — an ICP filing. It is a genuine door, but it is a distinct build, not a toggle on the account you have.
Door two — global DynamoDB keeps your China data offshore
Keep your tables on global DynamoDB and they live in whichever Region you chose. DynamoDB’s own global-tables feature “automatically replicate[s] your DynamoDB table data across AWS Regions” you select — but only Regions in the global partition, and not one of them is in mainland China. AWS’s global endpoint list for DynamoDB stretches from the United States through EMEA and Asia Pacific — Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore — yet carries no cn-north-1 or cn-northwest-1, because those sit in the separate China partition. Turning on global tables, then, spreads your data across more offshore Regions; it does not place it on Chinese soil.
And your users’ personal information sits in that offshore Region. Under China’s Personal Information Protection Law that is a cross-border transfer: the handler — you, not AWS — must give notice, obtain separate consent, and satisfy one transfer mechanism (a CAC security assessment, the CAC standard contract, or certification). For a critical information infrastructure operator or a large-volume handler, personal information collected in China must be stored in the mainland (Cybersecurity Law Article 39 (formerly Article 37); PIPL Article 40) — which an offshore DynamoDB Region cannot do, and an offshore endpoint cannot be ICP-filed.
This is a risk map, not a verdict: which door fits turns on your entity, your data and who your users are, and it is worth confirming with counsel.
Where 21YunBox fits — a compliant overlay, not a migration
You keep building on DynamoDB — global or the Sinnet/NWCD China Regions. We add the piece AWS leaves you to arrange yourself: compliant, ICP-filed delivery from inside the mainland, set in front of your existing origin — no rebuild, no second codebase, and no forced move between partitions. Our China team maps which door fits, assesses your PIPL cross-border and data-residency exposure for your entity and data volumes, and stands up the in-country delivery and storage a compliant China presence requires.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does DynamoDB store Chinese users' data in China?
Not on your global account. Global DynamoDB keeps each table in the AWS Region you pick, and the global partition has no mainland-China region; global tables replicate only across those offshore Regions. DynamoDB does run in China, but in the separate, Sinnet/NWCD-operated AWS China (Beijing and Ningxia) Regions — a partition your global credentials and global tables do not reach.
Is it illegal to use DynamoDB for China users?
Not inherently. The issue is the cross-border transfer of personal information, which PIPL permits if you give notice, obtain separate consent and meet one of its transfer mechanisms. Whether you also face a data-localization duty depends on your role (for example, whether you are a CIIO) and the volume of personal information you handle. Treat this as a risk to assess with counsel, not a blanket prohibition.
Can 21YunBox help make our DynamoDB setup compliant in China?
Yes. Our China team can assess your cross-border and data-residency exposure for your data volumes and role, and stand up the compliant, ICP-filed in-country delivery — and, where the law requires your China users' records to stay on the mainland, the in-country path — while your application stays where it already runs. Get in touch to work through your specific case.
