Advertising Law of the People’s Republic of China (Amended in 2018)
Effective Date: 10-26-2018
Source: Website
Chinese Title: 中华人民共和国广告法 (2018修正)
(Adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress on 27 October 1994; revised at the 14th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People’s Congress on 24 April 2015; amended according to the Decision on Revising 15 Laws Including the Wildlife Conservation Law of the People’s Republic of China at the 6th Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress on 26 October 2018)
CHAPTER 1 — GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Article 1 This Law is formulated for the purposes of standardising advertising activities, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, promoting healthy development of the advertising industry, and safeguarding social and economic order.
Article 2 This Law shall apply to commercial advertising activities in the People’s Republic of China by sellers of goods or service providers to promote their goods or services directly or indirectly through a certain medium and form.Advertisers referred to in this Law shall mean natural persons, legal persons or other organisations that design, produce or publish advertisements themselves or entrust others to do so to promote their goods or services.
Advertising agencies referred to in this Law shall mean natural persons, legal persons or other organizations that are entrusted to provide advertising design, production or agency services.
Advertising publishers referred to in this Law shall mean natural persons, legal persons or other organizations that publish advertisements for advertisers or advertising agencies entrusted by advertisers.
Advertising spokesperson referred to in this Law shall mean natural persons, legal persons or other organisations other than the advertiser that recommend or endorse goods or services in advertisements using their own name or image.
Article 3 Advertisements shall be true and legitimate, and advertisement contents shall be expressed in a healthy form, and shall comply with the requirements of civilised development of socialism and promotion of fine traditional Chinese culture.
Article 4 Advertisements shall not contain false or misleading contents, and shall not deceive or mislead consumers.Advertisers shall be responsible for the veracity of their advertisement contents.
Article 5 Advertisers, advertising agencies and advertising publishers engaging in advertising activities shall comply with laws and regulations, act with honesty and integrity, and engage in fair competition.
Article 6 The administration for industry and commerce department of the State Council shall be in charge of supervision and administration of advertisements nationwide, and the relevant departments of the State Council shall be responsible for the relevant tasks of administration of advertisements within the scope of their respective duties.The administration for market regulation of county level and above shall be in charge of supervision and administration of advertisements within their administrative region, and the relevant departments of local People’s Governments of county level and above shall be responsible for the relevant tasks of administration of advertisements within the scope of their respective duties.
Article 7 Advertising industry organizations shall, pursuant to the provisions of laws, regulations and articles of association, formulate industry standards, strengthen industry self-governance, promote industry development, guide members to engage in advertising activities pursuant to the law, and promote development of integrity of the advertising industry.
CHAPTER 2 — GUIDELINES FOR ADVERTISEMENT CONTENTS
Article 8 Expression of performance, functionality, place of origin, use, quality, ingredients, price, manufacturer, expiry date, undertaking etc. for goods or expression of contents, service provider, form, quality, price, undertaking etc. for services in advertisements shall be accurate, clear and unequivocal.Where it is stated in an advertisement that the goods or services come with a gift, the type, specification, quantity, period and method of such goods or services which are attached as gift shall be specified.
Contents to be included in advertisements as stipulated by laws and administrative regulations shall be expressed in an obvious and clear manner.
Article 9 Advertisements shall not:
(1) Use or covertly use the national flag, national anthem, national emblem, military flag, military anthem, military emblem of the People’s Republic of China;
(2) Use or covertly use the name or image of State agencies, personnel of State agencies;
(3) Use wordings such as “national level”, “highest level” and “best”;
(4) Harm the dignity or interests of the State and divulge State secrets;
(5) Hinder social stability and harm public interest;
(6) Endanger personal and property safety, and infringe upon personal privacy;
(7) Hinder public order or violate social morality;
(8) Contain obscenity, pornography, gambling, superstition, terror, violence contents;
(9) Contain ethnic, racial, religious, sexual discrimination contents;
(10) Hinder protection of environment, natural resources or cultural heritage; and
(11) Fall under any other circumstances stipulated by laws and administrative regulations.
Article 10 Advertisements shall not harm the physical and mental health of minors and disabled persons.
Article 11 Where the matters involved in advertisement contents require administrative licensing, such matters shall be consistent with the contents of the license. Data, statistical information, survey findings, abstracts, quotes and cited contents used in advertisements shall be true and accurate and shall state the sources of such contents. Where there is scope of application and expiry date for cited contents, these shall be specified.
Article 12 For patented products or patented methods involved in advertisements, the patent number and patent type shall be stated.Where patent rights have not been obtained, the advertisement shall not state deceptively that the patent rights have been obtained.
Patent applications which have not been granted patent rights and patents which are terminated, revoked, void shall not be advertised.
Article 13 Advertisements shall not belittle the goods or services of other manufacturers or business operators.
Article 14 Advertisements shall be distinctive and discernible to consumers.Mass media shall not publish advertisements in the form of news reporting. Advertisements published through mass media shall be marked as “advertisement” prominently, and a distinction shall be made between advertisements and non-advertising information so as not to mislead consumers.
Radio and television stations publishing advertisements shall comply with the provisions of the relevant departments of the State Council on duration and method, and shall make obvious prompts on the duration of advertisements.
Article 15 Narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, toxic drugs for medical use, radioactive pharmaceuticals and other special drugs, drug precursor chemicals, as well as pharmaceuticals, medical machinery and treatment method for drug abuse rehabilitation, shall not be advertised.Prescription drugs other than those stipulated in the preceding paragraph may only be advertised on medical, pharmaceutical professional journals jointly designated by the health department of the State Council and the drug regulatory department of the State Council.
Article 16 Medical, pharmaceutical and medical machinery advertisements shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Assertion or guarantee about efficacy, safety;
(2) Statement on cure rate or efficiency;
(3) Comparison of efficacy and safety of other drugs, medical machinery or other medical institutions;
(4) Recommendation or endorsement of an advertising spokesperson; and
(5) Any other contents prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.The contents of a drug advertisement shall not be inconsistent with the package insert approved by the drug regulatory department of the State Council, and shall state prominently the contraindications and adverse reactions. Prescription drug advertisements shall state prominently that “this advertisement is meant to be read only by medical and pharmaceutical professionals”, non-prescription drug advertisements shall state prominently that “please purchase and use in accordance with the package insert or under the guidance of a pharmacist”.
Advertisements of medical machinery recommended for self use by individuals shall state prominently that “please read the product manual carefully or purchase and use under the guidance of medical personnel”. Where there are contraindications and highlighted matters in the registration certificate for the medical machinery product, the advertisement shall state prominently that “please refer to the manual for contraindications or highlighted matters”.
Article 17 Except for medical, pharmaceutical and medical machinery advertisements, no other advertisements shall involve illness treatment function, and shall not use medical jargons or jargons which mislead readers to confuse the promoted product with medicine or medical machinery.
Article 18 Health food advertisements shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Assertion or guarantee about efficacy and/or safety;
(2) Involve prevention and/or treatment of illness;
(3) Assert or imply that the advertised product is necessary for health protection;
(4) Compare with drugs and other health food;
(5) Through recommendation and/or endorsement of an advertising spokesperson; and
(6) Any other contents prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.Health food advertisements shall state prominently that “this product does not serve as a substitute for medicine”.
Article 19 Radio and television stations, newspaper and audio-visual product publishers and Internet information service providers shall not publish medical, drugs, medical machinery or health food advertisements covertly in the form of introduction of health or youth preservation knowledge.
Article 20 Publishing through mass media or public premises of advertisements of baby dairy products, beverages and other food asserted to be full or partial substitute for breast milk shall be prohibited.
Article 21 Advertisements of pesticides, veterinary drugs, feeds and feed additives shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Assertion or guarantee about efficacy and/or safety;
(2) Recommendation and/or endorsement by scientific research institutes, academic institutions, technology promotion agencies, industry associations or professionals, or users using their name or image;
(3) Statement on effectiveness;
(4) Text, language or pictures which violate safe use rules; and
(5) Any other contents prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.
Article 22 Publishing of tobacco advertisements through mass media or public premises, public transportation vehicles or outdoor shall be prohibited. Publishing of tobacco advertisements in any form targeted at minors shall be prohibited.Promotion of name, trademark, packaging, decoration or similar contents of tobacco products through advertisements of other goods or services or public service advertisements shall be prohibited.
Notices on change of address, change of name or staff recruitment of manufacturers or sellers of tobacco products shall not contain name, trademark, packaging, decoration or similar contents of tobacco products.
Article 23 Alcohol advertisements shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Induce, encourage alcohol consumption or promotion of uncontrolled drinking;
(2) Appearance of drinking actions;
(3) Showing activities of driving car, boat, airplane etc.; and
(4) Explicit or implicit expression that alcohol consumption has the effect of eliminating tension and anxiety, enhancing physical stamina etc..
Article 24 Education and/or training advertisements shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Explicit or implicit guarantee for successful enrolment to a higher grade, passing of examination, obtaining of degree qualification or passing certificate, or the effect of education or training;
(2) Explicit or implicit expression of participation by the relevant examination body or its personnel, personnel setting examination questions in the education or training; and
(3) Recommendation and/or endorsement by scientific research institutes, academic institutions, educational organisations, industry associations, professionals or beneficiaries using their name or image.
Article 25 Advertisements of marketing for goods or services with expected return on investment shall contain reasonable prompts or warnings on potential risks and bearing of risk liability, and shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Guarantee for future results, earnings or relevant matters, and explicit or implicit statement of capital guarantee, zero risk or earnings guarantee, unless otherwise stipulated by the State; and
(2) Recommendation and/or endorsement by academic institutions, industry associations, professionals or beneficiaries using their name or image.
Article 26 In the case of real estate advertisements, property listings information shall be true, the area stated shall be the floor area or the usable area, and the advertisements shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Commitment on appreciation or investment return;
(2) Use the time required to travel between the property to a specific location to state the property’s location;
(3) Violate the provisions of the State on pricing administration; and
(4) Misleading promotion of transportation, commercial, cultural and educational facilities and other municipal facilities under planning or construction.
Article 27 In the case of advertisements of crop seeds, tree seeds, grass seeds, breeding livestock and poultry, aquatic seedling and species breeding, the expression of product types, performance, growth or yield, quality, resistance, special use value, economic value, scope and criteria for planting or breeding shall be true, clear and unequivocal, and shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Assertions which cannot be verified scientifically;
(2) Assertion or guarantee of efficacy;
(3) Analysis, projection or guarantee of economic benefits; and
(4) Recommendation and/or endorsement by scientific research institutes, academic institutions, technology promotion agencies, industry associations or professionals or users using their name or image.
Article 28 Advertisements which deceive or mislead consumers with false or misleading contents shall constitute false advertising.The following advertisements are deemed as false advertising:
(1) The goods or services do not exist;
(2) Information on performance, function, place of origin, use, quality, specifications, ingredients, price, manufacturer, expiry date, sales or accolades of the goods, or information on contents, service provider, form, quality, price, sales or accolades of the services, as well as information on undertakings in relation to the goods or services, are inconsistent with the actual situation and have a substantial impact on purchase behaviour;
(3) Using fictitious, forged or non-verifiable scientific research findings, statistical information, survey findings, abstracts, citations etc. as proof materials;
(4) Fabricating the effects of use of goods or services;
(5) Any other circumstances of using false or misleading contents to deceive or mislead consumers.
CHAPTER 3 — ADVERTISING CODE OF CONDUCT
Article 29 Radio and television stations and newspaper publishers engaging in advertising publishing business shall set up a specific department to handle advertising business, employ the requisite personnel, possess premises and equipment corresponding to publishing of advertisements, and complete registration formalities for publishing of advertisements with the administration for market regulation of county level and above at their locality.
Article 30 Advertisers, advertising agencies and advertising publishers shall enter into written contracts among themselves in the conduct of advertising activities pursuant to the law.
Article 31 Advertisers, advertising agencies and advertising publishers shall not engage in any form of unfair competition in their conduct of advertising activities.
Article 32 Advertisers entrusting others to design, produce and publish their advertisements shall entrust an advertising agency and an advertising publisher which possess legitimate business qualifications.
Article 33 An advertiser or advertising agency which uses the name or image of others in an advertisement shall obtain their written consent beforehand; an advertiser or advertising agency which uses the name or image of a person who has no capacity for civil conduct or a person who has limited capacity for civil conduct shall obtain the written consent of his/her guardian beforehand.
Article 34 Advertising agencies and advertising publishers shall establish and improve upon their systems for registration, review and file management of advertising businesses pursuant to the relevant provisions of the State.Advertising agencies and advertising publishers shall verify the relevant proof documents pursuant to laws and administrative regulations, and verify advertisement contents. For advertisements with contents which are inconsistent with the proof documents or the proof documents are incomplete, advertising agencies shall not provide design, production, agency services, and advertising publishers shall not publish such advertisements.
Article 35 Advertising agencies and advertising publishers shall publish their fee rates and fee collection method.
Article 36 Materials on coverage, ratings, hits and distribution quantity which are provided by advertising publishers to advertisers and advertising agencies shall be true.
Article 37 For products whose manufacturing and sale are prohibited by laws and administrative regulations and provision of services prohibited by laws and regulations, no organization or individual shall provide advertisement design, production, agency or publishing services.
Article 38 Recommendation and/or endorsement for goods or services by advertising spokespersons in advertisements shall be based on facts, comply with the provisions of this Law and the relevant laws and administrative regulations, and advertising spokespersons shall not recommend or endorse goods or services they have not used or accepted. Minors below 10 years of age shall not act as an advertising spokesperson.
Natural persons, legal persons or other organisations for which a three-year period has not expired for administrative punishment imposed on them for providing recommendation and/or endorsement in false advertising, shall not act as an advertising spokesperson.
Article 39 No advertising activities shall be carried out in primary and secondary schools and kindergartens; except for public service advertisements, publishing of advertisements directly or covertly through teaching materials, teaching supplementary materials, exercise books, stationery, teaching tools, school uniforms, school buses etc. for primary and secondary school students and infants shall not be allowed.
Article 40 Medical, pharmaceutical, health food, medical equipment, cosmetics, liquor and aesthetics advertisements, as well as advertisements of online games which are not conducive to the physical and mental health of minors, shall not be published on mass media targeted at minors.Advertisements of goods or services targeted at minors below 14 years of age shall not contain the following contents:
(1) Persuade them to ask their parents to buy the advertised goods or services; and
(2) May initiate them to imitate unsafe behaviour.
Article 41 Local People’s Government of county level and above shall organise the relevant authorities to strengthen supervision and administration on publishing of outdoor advertisements using outdoor premises, space, facilities etc., and formulate planning and safety requirements for installation of outdoor advertisements.Administrative measures on outdoor advertisements shall be stipulated by local regulations and local government rules.
Article 42 Outdoor advertisements shall not be installed under the following circumstances:
(1) Make use of traffic safety facilities and/or traffic signs;
(2) Affect use of municipal facilities, traffic safety facilities, traffic signs, fire safety facilities and/or fire safety signs;
(3) Hinder production or people’s living and damage city landscape; and
(4) Install advertisements at building control areas such as State agencies, cultural relics protection organizations, scenic areas etc., or at the areas for which installation of outdoor advertisements is prohibited by local People’s Governments of county level and above.
Article 43 No organization or individual shall, without obtaining the consent or request of the parties concerned, distribute advertisements to their residence, transportation vehicle etc., or distribute advertisements to them via electronic means.Advertisements distributed via electronic means shall state the true identity and contact details of the senders, and the method for the recipients to refuse acceptance of future advertisements.
Article 44 The provisions of this Law shall apply to conduct of advertising activities through the Internet.Advertisements posted or published through the Internet shall not affect normal usage of network by users. Advertisements published in the form of pop-up window on the Internet shall show the close sign prominently and ensure one-key closing of the window.
Article 45 Managers of public premises or telecommunications operators and Internet information service providers shall curb posting and publishing of illegal advertisements through their premises or information transmission and distribution platform of which they are aware or should be aware.
CHAPTER 4 — SUPERVISION AND ADMINISTRATION
Article 46 For publishing of medical, drugs, medical machinery, pesticides, veterinary drugs and health food advertisements, as well as other advertisements subject to examination pursuant to the provisions of laws and administrative regulations, the advertisement contents shall be examined by the relevant authorities (hereinafter referred to as the “advertisements review authorities”) prior to publishing, and the advertisements shall not be distributed without going through examination.
Article 47 Advertisers applying for review of advertisement shall submit the relevant proof documents to the advertisements review authorities pursuant to laws and administrative regulations.The advertisements review authorities shall make an examination decision pursuant to the provisions of laws and administrative regulations, and shall submit a copy of the examination approval document to the administration for market regulation of counterpart level. The advertisements review authorities shall promptly announce the approval of advertisements to the public.
Article 48 No organization or individual shall forge, alter or transfer approval documents for review of advertisement.
Article 49 The administration for industry and commerce may perform the following duties when performing advertising supervision and administration duties:
(1) Implement onsite inspection at premises where the illegal advertising activities are allegedly carried out;
(2) Question the party concerned which has allegedly carried out the illegal act or its legal representative, key person-in-charge and other relevant personnel, and investigate into the relevant organisations or individuals;
(3) Require the party concerned which has allegedly carried out the illegal act to provide the relevant proof documents within a stipulated period;
(4) Inspect and make copies of the contracts, receipts, accounts books, advertisement works and other relevant materials relating to the illegal advertisement;
(5) Seize and confiscate advertising items, work tools, equipment etc. which are directly related to the alleged illegal advertisement;
(6) Order the offender to stop publishing of allegedly illegal advertisements which may cause serious consequences; and
(7) Any other terms of reference stipulated by laws and administrative regulations.The administration for market regulation shall establish and improve upon an advertisements monitoring system, improve upon monitoring measures, promptly discover and deal with illegal advertising activities pursuant to the law.
Article 50 The administration for market regulation of the State Council shall, jointly with the relevant departments of the State Council, formulate the code of conduct for publishing of advertisements on mass media.
Article 51 When the administration for market regulation exercises its powers pursuant to the provisions of this Law, the parties concerned shall assist and cooperate, and shall not refuse or hinder.
Article 52 The administration for market regulation and the relevant authorities and their personnel shall be obligated to keep confidentiality of commercial secrets which have come into their knowledge during supervision and administration of advertisements.
Article 53 Any organization or individual shall have the right to lodge a complaint or report to the administration for industry and commerce and the relevant authorities. The administration for market regulation and the relevant authorities shall announce the telephone number, mailbox or email address for lodging of complaints/reports; the authorities which receive a complaint/report shall handle the complaint/report within seven working days from receipt of the complaint/ report, and notify the complainant/whistleblower.Where the administration for market regulation and the relevant authorities do not perform their duties pursuant to the law, any organization or individual shall have the right to report to their higher-level authorities or the surveillance authorities. The authorities which receive the report shall deal with the matter pursuant to the law and promptly notify the whistleblower of the handling outcome.
The relevant authorities shall keep confidentiality of complainants and whistleblowers.
Article 54 Consumer associations and other consumer organizations shall implement public supervision pursuant to the law with respect to publishing of false advertisements against the provisions of this Law which harm the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, as well as other acts which harm public interest.
CHAPTER 5 — LEGAL LIABILITY
Article 55 In the case of publishing of false advertisements against the provisions of this Law, the administration for market regulation shall order the offender to stop distribution of advertisement and order the advertiser to eliminate impact within the corresponding scope, and impose a fine ranging from three to five times the amount of the advertising fee, however where it is impossible to compute the advertising fee or the advertising fee is evidently low, a fine ranging from RMB200,000 to RMB1 million shall be imposed; where the offender has committed more than three illegal acts within two years or the case is serious, a fine ranging from five to ten times the amount of the advertising fee shall be imposed, however where it is impossible to compute the advertising fee or the advertising fee is evidently low, a fine ranging from RMB1 million to RMB2 million shall be imposed, the business license of the offender may be revoked, the advertisements review authorities shall revoke the approval document for review of advertisement, and shall not accept applications for review of advertisement from the offender within a year.Where a medical institution has committed an illegal act stipulated in the preceding paragraph and the case is serious, in addition to punishment imposed by the administration for market regulation pursuant to the Law, the health authorities may revoke the specialty practice or revoke the practising permit of the medical institution.
Where an advertising agency or advertising publisher provides design, production, agency or publishing services when it is aware or should be aware that the advertisement is false, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the advertising fee and impose a fine ranging from three to five times the amount of the advertising fee, however where it is impossible to compute the advertising fee or the advertising fee is evidently low, a fine ranging from RMB200,000 to RMB1 million shall be imposed; where the offender has committed more than three illegal acts within two years or the case is serious, a fine ranging from five to ten times the amount of the advertising fee shall be imposed, however where it is impossible to compute the advertising fee or the advertising fee is evidently low, a fine ranging from RMB1 million to RMB 2 million shall be imposed, and the relevant authorities may also suspend the advertising publishing business, cancel the business license, and/or cancel the registration certificate for publishing of advertisements.
Where an advertiser, advertising agency or advertising publisher has committed any of the acts stipulated in the first paragraph and third paragraph of this Article, if the case constitutes a criminal offence, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Article 56 For publishing of false advertisements against the provisions of this Law to deceive, mislead consumers, and caused harm to the legitimate rights and interests of consumers who purchase the goods or accept the services, the advertiser shall bear civil liability pursuant to the law. Where the advertising agency or advertising publisher is unable to provide the real name, address or valid contact details of the advertiser, the consumers may require the advertising agency or advertising publisher to make compensation. For false advertisements of goods or services relating to the life and health of consumers which cause harm to consumers, the advertising agency, advertising publisher and advertising spokesperson shall bear joint and several liability with the advertiser.
For false advertisements of goods or services other than those stipulated in the preceding paragraph which cause harm to consumers, where the advertising agency, advertising publisher and advertising spokesperson are aware or should be aware that the advertisement is false yet still provide design, production, agency or publishing services, or provide recommendation or endorsement, they shall bear joint and several liability with the advertiser.
Article 57 Under any of the following circumstances, the administration for market regulation shall order the offender to stop publishing of advertisement impose a fine ranging from RMB200,000 to RMB1 million on the advertiser, and in serious cases may also cancel the business license, and the advertisements review authorities can also revoke the approval document for review of advertisement and refuse to accept applications for review of advertisement from the advertiser within a year; the administration for industry and commerce shall confiscate the advertising fee from the advertising agency and advertising publisher, impose a fine ranging from RMB200,000 to RMB1 million, and in serious cases may also cancel the business license and cancel the registration certificate for publishing of advertisements:
(1) Publishing of advertisements prohibited by Article 9 and Article 10 of this Law;
(2) Publishing of advertisements of prescribed drugs, advertisements of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, toxic drugs for medical use, radioactive pharmaceuticals and other special drugs, drug precursor chemicals and pharmaceuticals, advertisements of medical machinery and treatment method for drug abuse rehabilitation, which are against the provisions of Article 15 of this Law;
(3) Publishing of advertisements of baby dairy products, beverages and other food asserted to be full or partial substitute for breast milk, which are against the provisions of Article 20 of this Law;
(4) Publishing of tobacco advertisements, which are against the provisions of Article 22 of this Law;
(5) Violating Article 37 of this Law in publishing advertisements to promote products whose manufacturing and sale are prohibited and services prohibited to provide, or publishing of advertisements of goods or services for which publishing of advertisements is prohibited; and
(6) Publishing of medical, pharmaceutical, health food, medical equipment, cosmetics, liquor and aesthetics advertisements on mass media targeted at minors, as well as advertisements of online games which are not conducive to the physical and mental health of minors, which are against the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 40 of this Law.
Article 58 Under any of the following circumstances, the administration for market regulation shall order the offender to stop publishing of advertisement, order the advertiser to eliminate impact within the corresponding scope, impose a fine ranging from one to three times the amount of the advertising fee, however where it is impossible to compute the advertising fee or the advertising fee is evidently low, a fine ranging from RMB100,000 to RMB200,000 shall be imposed; in serious cases, a fine ranging from three to five times the amount of the advertising fee shall be imposed, however where it is impossible to compute the advertising fee or the advertising fee is evidently low, a fine ranging from RMB200,000 to RMB1 million shall be imposed, the business licence may be cancelled, and the advertisements review authorities may also revoke the approval document for review of advertisement and refuse to accept applications for review of advertisement from the offender within a year;
(1) Publishing of medical, pharmaceutical or medical machinery advertisements, which are against the provisions of Article 16 of this Law;
(2) Stating illness treatment function in advertisements, as well as use of medical jargon or jargon which mislead readers to confuse the promoted product with medicine and medical machinery, which are against the provisions of Article 17 of this Law;
(3) Publishing of health food advertisements, which are against the provisions of Article 18 of this Law;
(4) Publishing of advertisements of pesticides, veterinary drugs, feeds and feed additives, which are against the provisions of Article 21 of this Law;
(5) Publishing of alcohol advertisements, which are against the provisions of Article 23 of this Law;
(6) Publishing of education or training advertisements, which are against the provisions of Article 24 of this Law;
(7) Publishing of advertisements of marketing for goods or services with expected return on investment, which are against the provisions of Article 25 of this Law;
(8) Publishing of real estate advertisements, which are against the provisions of Article 26 of this Law;
(9) Publishing of advertisements of crop seeds, tree seeds, grass seeds, breeding livestock and poultry, aquatic seedling and species breeding, which are against the provisions of Article 27 of this Law;
(10) Appointment of minors below 10 years of age as advertising spokesperson, which are against the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 38 of this Law;
(11) Appointment of natural persons, legal persons or other organisations as advertising spokesperson, which are against the provisions of the third paragraph of Article 38 of this Law;
(12) Publishing of advertisements in primary and secondary schools and kindergartens or making use of items relating to primary and secondary school students and infants for publishing of advertisements, which are against the provisions of Article 39 of this Law;
(13) Publishing of advertisements of goods or services targeted at minors below 14 years of age, which are against the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 40 of this Law; or
(14) Publishing of advertisements without examination, which are against the provisions of Article 46 of this Law.Where a medical institution has committed any of the illegal acts stipulated in the preceding paragraph and the case is serious, in addition to punishment imposed by the administration for market regulation pursuant to the Law, the health authorities may revoke the specialty practice or revoke the practising permit of the medical institution.
Where the advertising agency and advertising publisher provide design, production, agency or publishing services when they are aware or should be aware of an illegal act stipulated in the first paragraph of this Article, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the advertising fee and impose a fine ranging from one to three times the amount of the advertising fee, however where it is impossible to compute the advertising fee or the advertising fee is evidently low, a fine ranging from RMB100,000 to RMB200,000 shall be imposed; in serious cases, a fine ranging from three to five times the amount of the advertising fee shall be imposed, however where it is impossible to compute the advertising fee or the advertising fee is evidently low, a fine ranging from RMB200,000 to RMB1 million shall be imposed, and the relevant authorities may also suspend the advertising publishing business, cancel the business licence, and cancel the registration certificate for publishing of advertisements.
Article 59 Under any of the following circumstances, the administration for market regulation shall order the offender to stop publishing of advertisement, and impose a fine of not more than RMB100,000 on the advertiser:
(1) The advertisement contents violate the provisions of Article 8 of this Law;
(2) The contents cited in the advertisement violate the provisions of Article 11 of this Law;
(3) An advertisement involving a patent violates the provisions of Article 12 of this Law; or
(4) An advertisement which belittles the goods or services of other manufacturers or business operators and thus violates the provisions of Article 13 of this Law. Where the advertising agency and advertising publisher provide design, production, agency or publishing services when they are aware or should be aware of an illegal act stipulated in the preceding paragraph, the administration for industry and commerce shall impose a fine of not more than RMB100,000.
Where an advertisement is not discernible and thus violates the provisions of Article 14 of this Law, or a medical, drugs, medical machinery, health food advertisement is published covertly and thus violates the provisions of Article 19 of this Law, the offender shall be ordered by the administration for market regulation to make correction, and a fine of not more than RMB100,000 shall be imposed on the advertising publisher.
Article 60 Radio and television stations and newspaper publishers which do not complete registration formalities for publishing of advertisements and thus violate the provisions of Article 29 of this Law shall be ordered by the administration for market regulation to make correction, illegal income shall be confiscated, and where the amount of illegal income is RMB10,000 or above, a fine ranging from one to three times the amount of the illegal income shall be imposed; where the amount of illegal income is less than RMB10,000, a fine ranging from RMB5,000 to RMB30,000 shall be imposed.
Article 61 Advertising agencies or advertising publishers which do not establish and improve upon an advertising business management system pursuant to the relevant provisions of the State or do not verify advertisement contents and thus violate the provisions of Article 34 of this Law shall be ordered by the administration for market regulation to make correction and may be subject to a fine of not more than RMB50,000.Advertising agencies or advertising publishers which do not publish their fee rates and fee collection method and thus violate the provisions of Article 35 of this Law shall be ordered by the pricing authorities to make correction and may be subject to a fine of not more than RMB50,000.
Article 62 Under any of the following circumstances involving an advertising spokesperson, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the illegal income and impose a fine ranging from one to two times the amount of the illegal income:
(1) Provide recommendation or endorsement in a medical, pharmaceutical or medical machinery advertisement and thus violate the provisions of item (4) of the first paragraph of Article 16 of this Law;
(2) Provide recommendation or endorsement in a health food advertisement and thus violate the provisions of item (5) of the first paragraph of Article 18 of this Law;
(3) Provide recommendation or endorsement in an advertisement for the advertised goods or services which he/she has not used or accepted and thus violate the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 38 of this Law; or
(4) Provide recommendation or endorsement for the advertised goods or services when he/she is aware or should be aware that the advertisement is false.
Article 63 Persons who distribute advertisements against the provisions of Article 43 of this Law shall be ordered by the relevant authorities to stop the illegal act, and a fine ranging from RMB5,000 to RMB30,000 shall be imposed on the advertiser.Persons who publish advertisements on the Internet fail to show the close sign prominently and ensure one-key closing of the window and thus violate the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 44 of this Law shall be ordered by the administration for market regulation to make correction, and a fine ranging from RMB5,000 to RMB30,000 shall be imposed on the advertiser.
Article 64 Where the managers of public premises, telecommunications operators or Internet information service providers do not curb illegal advertising activities of which they are aware or should be aware and thus violate the provisions of Article 45 of the Law, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the illegal income, and where the amount of the illegal income is RMB50,000 or above, a fine ranging from one to three times the amount of the illegal income shall be imposed simultaneously, however where the amount of the illegal income is less than RMB50,000, a fine ranging from RMB10,000 to RMB50,000 shall be imposed simultaneously; in serious cases, the relevant authorities shall order the offender to stop the relevant businesses.
Article 65 In the case of persons who violate the provisions of this Law in concealing true information or providing false materials to apply for review of advertisement, the advertisements review authorities shall not accept or approve the application, and shall give a warning and refuse to accept applications for review of advertisement from the said applicant within a year; approval for review of advertisement obtained through fraud, bribery or other improper means shall be revoked by the advertisements review authorities, a fine ranging from RMB100,000 to RMB200,000 shall be imposed, and the advertisements review authorities shall not accept applications for review of advertisement from the said applicant within the next three years.
Article 66 In the case of persons who violate the provisions of this Law in forgery, alteration or transfer of approval document for review of advertisement, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the illegal income and impose a fine ranging from RMB10,000 to RMB100,000.
Article 67 Persons who committed an illegal act stipulated in this Law shall be recorded by the administration for market regulation in the integrity files, and announced to the public pursuant to the provisions of the relevant laws and administrative regulations.
Article 68 Radio and television stations and newspaper and audio-visual product publishers guilty of publishing illegal advertisements or publishing advertisements covertly in the form of news reporting, or publishing medical, drugs, medical machinery, health food advertisements covertly in the form of introduction of health or youth preservation knowledge shall be punished by the administration for market regulation pursuant to the law; the administration of press publication, the administration of radio, film and television and other relevant authorities shall be notified. The press, publication, radio, film and television authorities and other relevant authorities shall punish the accountable person(s)-in-charge and directly accountable personnel pursuant to the law; in serious cases, the advertising publishing business of the offender may be suspended. Where the press, publication, radio, film and television authorities and other relevant authorities failed to deal with the radio and television station, newspaper and audio-visual product publisher pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the accountable person(s)-in-charge and directly accountable personnel shall be punished pursuant to the law.
Article 69 Advertisers, advertising agencies or advertising publishers guilty of committing any of the following tortuous acts in violation of the provisions of this Law shall bear civil liability pursuant to the law:
(1) Harm the physical and mental health of minors in the advertisements;
(2) Patent counterfeiting;
(3) Belittle the goods or services of other manufacturers or business operators;
(4) Use the name or image of others in an advertisement without obtaining their consent; or
(5) Any other acts which infringe upon the legitimate civil rights and interests of others.
Article 70 Where the legal representative of a company or enterprise, whose business license is revoked due to publishing of false advertisement or committing any other illegal act stipulated in this Law, is personally accountable for the illegal act, he/she shall not be appointed as a director, supervisor or senior management personnel of another company or enterprise within three years from revocation of the business licence of such company or enterprise.
Article 71 Persons who violate the provisions of this Law in refusing or hindering supervision and inspection of the administration for market regulation, or commit an act which constitutes violation of public security administration shall be subject to public security administration punishment pursuant to the law; where the case constitutes a criminal offense, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Article 72 Where the advertisements review authorities approve the contents of an illegal advertisement, the accountable person(s)-in-charge and directly accountable personnel shall be punished by the appointing authorities or surveillance authorities pursuant to the law; where the case constitutes a criminal offense, the criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Article 73 Where the administration for market regulation does not launch an investigation into illegal advertising activities discovered in the course of monitoring of advertisements or reported by a complainant or whistleblower pursuant to the law, the accountable person(s)-in-charge and directly accountable personnel shall be punished pursuant to the law. The personnel of the administration for market regulation and the relevant authorities responsible for administration of advertisements guilty of dereliction of duties, abusing official powers or corruption shall be punished pursuant to the law.
For the acts stipulated in the two preceding paragraphs, where the case constitutes a criminal offense, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
CHAPTER 6 — SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS
Article 74 The State encourages and supports launch of promotion activities for public service advertisements, promotion of core values for socialism, advocating of civilised practices.Mass media shall be obligated to publish public service advertisements. Radio and television stations and newspaper publishers shall publish public service advertisements in accordance with the stipulated layout, time slot and duration. Administrative measures on public service advertisements shall be formulated by the administration for market regulation of the State Council jointly with the relevant authorities.
Article 75 This Law shall come into effect on 1 September 2015.