china-operator-ip is an IP address database that classifies Chinese network operator IP ranges based on BGP and ASN data.
The project addresses the gap between free and commercial IP geolocation services in China. While commercial services like ipip.net provide accurate operator classification by combining BGP announcements with ASN data, most domestic IP databases rely solely on WHOIS records, which reflect registration rather than actual usage and can misclassify addresses not directly announced by operators. This tool builds on BGP data to identify which autonomous systems actually announce IP prefixes, enabling more accurate operator attribution than WHOIS alone.
The database covers major Chinese operators including China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, CERNET, CSTNET, and experimental coverage for Dr.Peng and Google China. The maintainer acknowledges that coverage does not match commercial services, particularly for backbone infrastructure, though this limitation typically has minimal impact for most users. The tool is suitable for applications like geographic DNS resolution by operator or traffic routing decisions where free, regularly updated operator classification is acceptable despite potential gaps in comprehensive coverage.
The project maintains an active issue tracker where users report problems and suggestions. The maintainer provides detailed explanations in issue discussions about data limitations, such as why Dr.Peng addresses are partially announced through other operators' autonomous systems, and clarifies the semantic differences between BGP-based classification and RIR allocation data.
