Shadow APIs: Chinese developers bypass restrictions to access Claude and Gemini

In China, a burgeoning grey market for API relay platforms is enabling local developers to circumvent restrictions and gain access to international AI models such as Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini, which are not officially available in the region. These relay stations utilize proxy servers located outside mainland China, becoming essential for developers engaged in coding, debugging, and image generation with US AI models. On platforms like Taobao and Xianyu, providers promote services like native access to Claude Opus, unlimited subscriptions to Claude Code, and official models with no capability limitations. Many sellers highlight features such as one-million-token context windows and seamless domestic network access without VPNs. A prominent seller on Xianyu, with over 2,200 completed orders, offers 'low-latency, no-VPN' access to the entire Claude 3.5 suite. Listings for access to Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini are prevalent on both sites, alongside used electronics and gaming equipment, despite increasing efforts to crack down by foreign providers.