[jgalar]

Pure speculation on my part, but could this be a way for Apple to segregate Chinese account data from the rest of their customers' data?

That would seem to limit the scope of what Chinese authorities can access.

[pawelkomarnicki]

To me it seems to be case — Chinese customers will use firewalled version of iCloud available only in one country.

[jitl]

This is exactly what this is done. Apple needs to isolate its Chinese users so that only they are affected by Chinese government regulations.

[Chaebixi]

How do they define "Chinese users?" What about an American traveling or living in China?