Yes, I was in no way suggesting that this was a practical alternative for Chinese researchers needing to bypass the Great Firewall. Besides the expense, I presume there are laws against Chinese citizens using international SIM cards for the purpose of bypassing the firewall.

I was simply making the point that the government has made accommodations to ease the use by international business travelers.

I'll also add that my ExpressVPN account (which I used from different Wi-Fi networks) often failed to connect, presumably because the Great Firewall is looking for VPN network patterns to block.

I use the poor man's version of this. T-Mobile One plans give you uncensored 2G data at no extra cost.

I make a pretty decent salary in the US, and I wouldn't call that affordable.