International iPhone functionality in China

I'm going to move to China by the end of this year from Indonesia, am interested in buying the global version of the iphone 17e (A3634) before moving (to circumvent the Chinese restrictions and my own country's weird tax laws regarding bringing tech home from overseas so I dont have to dabble in that when I come home to visit).

The Apple website says only a few Chinese iPhone models are supported by Chinese network providers, meanwhile some other sources I've found (and my own experience from going on vacation there) leads me to believe that international models still work in China.

I hope someone who's been in China for a while can answer some of these questions for me

1. If the international model does work, will I need to do something else to get the phone set up or can I just pop in a Chinese sim (the phone still has a sim slot).
2. Should I prepare any apps before going to China besides a VPN, maps app, translator, alipay/wechat etc.?

Thanks-