The government of China has announced that only specific VPN software are allowed to be used by the civilians of China.
Via a VPN it is possible to hide your outgoing IP address by using another server that is provided by a third-party.
For example, you can use a VPN to visit censored websites like news sites, but it also allows the user to navigate the web without having to worry that logs are being kept (beware, only a couple of VPN providers do not keep logs).