Area Code 572 – Huzhou, Zhejiang

Overview of Area Code +86 572

Area code 572 is a geographic National Destination Code (NDC) within the Chinese telephone numbering plan, assigned to the prefecture-level city of Huzhou (湖州) in Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. It covers the entire administrative jurisdiction of Huzhou, including its central urban districts and subordinate county-level cities and counties. Specifically, the code serves the urban districts of Wuxing and Nanxun, as well as the counties of Deqing, Changxing, and Anji. Huzhou is situated in the northern part of Zhejiang, bordering the太湖 (Taihu Lake) to the north and sharing administrative boundaries with Jiaxing (area code 573) to the east, Hangzhou (area code 571) to the south, and Anhui Province to the west.

As a geographic code, 572 is used for fixed-line (PSTN) services, including traditional analog lines, ISDN, and fixed-line VoIP services that are registered to a physical address within the Huzhou calling area. The code is not used for mobile phone numbers, which in China are assigned non-geographic prefixes such as 13x, 15x, 17x, 18x, and 19x, and are not tied to a specific city.

Dialing Formats

When dialing a Huzhou fixed-line number from within China (excluding Huzhou itself), the format is: 0 572 XXXX XXXX, where the leading 0 is the domestic trunk prefix. Within Huzhou, local calls can be made using the 8-digit subscriber number alone (XXXX XXXX), without the area code or trunk prefix. From outside China, callers must use the international access prefix (e.g., 00 from most countries, or + from mobile phones), followed by China's country code 86, then the area code 572 (without the leading 0), and finally the 8-digit local number. For example, a number in Huzhou might be dialed as +86 572 1234 5678 from abroad.

Numbering and Overlays

Subscriber numbers in Huzhou are 8 digits long, and the area code 572 is not overlaid with any other code; it is the sole geographic code for the region. The Chinese numbering plan is hierarchical, and area codes are assigned based on administrative boundaries. Huzhou's code 572 falls within the broader Zhejiang provincial numbering group, which includes codes such as 571 (Hangzhou), 573 (Jiaxing), 575 (Shaoxing), and others.

For callers within Huzhou, local calls are typically charged at local rates, while calls from other Chinese cities are considered domestic long-distance and incur appropriate tariffs. International callers should be aware that China uses a closed numbering plan, and the total number of digits for an international call to Huzhou is 12 (country code 86 + area code 572 + 8-digit subscriber number).