Advertising Law of the People’s Republic of China (Amended in 2021)
Effective Date: 29-04-2021
Source: https://scjgj.beijing.gov.cn/cxfw/flfgcxfw/ggl/202204/t20220401_2646388.html
Chinese Title: 中华人民共和国广告法 (2021修正)
(Adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the 8th National People’s Congress on October 27, 1994; revised at the 14th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress on April 24, 2015; amended in accordance with the Decision on Amending Fifteen Laws Including the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Wild Animals adopted at the Sixth Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress on October 26, 2018, and amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Revising Eight Laws Including the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Road Traffic Safety on April, 29, 2021)
Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purposes of regulating advertising activities, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, promoting healthy development of the advertising industry, and maintaining social and economic order.
Article 2 This Law applies to commercial advertising activities for direct or indirect introduction of products or services promoted by business operators of goods or service providers via a certain medium and in a certain form within the territory of the People’s Republic of China.For the purpose of this Law, the term “advertiser” refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization that designs, produces or publishes advertisements, or commissions others to do so, to promote his/its goods or services.
For the purpose of this Law, the term “advertising agent” refers to any natural person, legal person or any other organization that provides advertisement design, production or agency service on a commission basis.
For the purpose of this Law, the term “advertisement publisher” refers to any natural person, legal person or any other organization that publishes an advertisement for an advertiser or for an advertising agent commissioned by an advertiser.
For the purpose of this Law, the term “advertisement endorser” refers to any natural person, legal person or any other organization, other than an advertiser, that recommends or certifies goods or services in an advertisement in his/its 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 civilized development of socialism and promotion of fine traditional Chinese culture.
Article 4 Advertisements shall not contain any false or misleading content and shall not deceive or mislead consumers.Advertisers shall be responsible for the veracity of their advertisement contents.
Article 5 Advertisers, advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall abide by laws and regulations, act in good faith, and compete in a fair manner in advertising activities.
Article 6 The administration for market regulation under the State Council shall take charge of supervision and administration of advertisements nationwide, and the relevant departments of the State Council shall be responsible for the work relating to administration of advertisements within their respective functions.Local administrations for market regulation at county level or above shall take charge of supervision and administration of advertisements within their respective jurisdictions, and the relevant departments of local people’s governments at county level or above shall be responsible for the work relating to the administration of advertisements within their respective functions.
Article 7 An advertising trade organization shall develop industry standards, strengthen self-regulation in the industry, promote industry development, guide members to engage in advertising activities pursuant to the law, and promote development of integrity in the advertising industry in accordance with the provisions of laws, regulations and its articles of association.
Chapter II Guidelines for Advertisement Contents
Article 8 In an advertisement, indications of the performance, functions, place of origin, purpose, quality, ingredients, price, producer, valid period and undertakings etc. of goods or the content, provider, form, quality, price and undertakings of services shall be accurate, clear, and unequivocal.Where it is indicated in an advertisement that a gift is attached to the marketed goods or services, the variety, specification, quantity, term, and form of the goods or services as gifts shall be explicitly indicated.
Contents to be explicitly indicated in an advertisement as required by any law or administrative regulation shall be indicated in a conspicuous and clear manner.
Article 9 An advertisement shall not fall under any of the following circumstances:
(1) using, or using in a disguised form, the national flag, national anthem, national emblem, military flag, military song, or military emblem of the People’s Republic of China;
(2) using, or using in a disguised form, the name or image of any state authority or its staff member;
(3) using “national level,” “highest level,” “best” or similar wordings;
(4) harming the dignity or interest of the State or divulging any state secret;
(5) hindering social stability or damaging the public interest;
(6) endangering personal or property safety or divulging individual privacy;
(7) hindering the public order or going against social morality.
(8) containing any obscene, pornographic, gambling, superstitious, horrible, or violent contents;
(9) containing ethnic, racial, religious or sexual discrimination contents;
(10) impeding the protection of environment, natural resources, or cultural heritages; and
(11) falling under any other circumstances as set out by any law or administrative regulation.
Article 10 Advertisements shall not harm the physical and mental health of minors and the disabled.
Article 11 Where administrative licensing is required to be obtained for any item involved in the content of an advertisement, such item shall conform to the content of the licensing.Any data, statistics, research result, summary, quotation and other quoted information used in an advertisement shall be authentic and accurate, with the source indicated. If the quoted information is subject to a scope of application or a valid period, the scope of application or valid period shall be clearly indicated.
Article 12 Where an advertisement involves any patented product or patented method, the patent number and the patent type shall be indicated.Where a patent right has not obtained yet, it is not allowed to falsely claim that the patent right has been obtained in an advertisement.
It is prohibited to use for advertising any patent application that has not been granted patent right or any patent that has been terminated, revoked or invalid.
Article 13 Advertisements shall not disparage the goods or services of other manufacturers or business operators.
Article 14 An advertisement shall be identifiable and enable consumers to identify it so such.Advertisements shall not be published in the disguised form of a news report on mass media. Any advertisement published on mass media shall be conspicuously indicated as an “advertisement” to distinguish it from other non-advertisement information and avoid misleading consumers.
Any advertisement published on radio and television stations shall be in compliance with the provisions of the relevant departments of the State Council on the length of time and means of publishing, with clear indication of the length of time of the advertisements.
Article 15 It is not allowed to advertise narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs, toxic drugs for medical use, radioactive drugs or any other special drugs, pharmaceutical precursor chemicals, as well as drug addiction treatment medicines, medical devices and treatment methods.Prescription drugs other than those set out in the preceding paragraph may only be advertised on specialized pharmaceutical or medical journals jointly designated by the public health authority and the drug administration under the State Council.
Article 16 An advertisement for medical treatment, drugs, or medical devices shall not contain any of the following information:
(1) any assertion or guarantee for efficacy or safety;
(2) any statement on cure rate or effective rate;
(3) any comparison with other drugs or medical devices in efficacy and safety or comparison with other medical institutions;
(4) any recommendation or certification by an endorser; and
(5) any other information prohibited by any law or administrative regulation.The content of a drug advertisement shall not differ from the instructions approved by the drug administration under the State Council and shall conspicuously indicate the contraindication and adverse reactions. An advertisement for a prescription drug shall conspicuously indicate that “This advertisement is intended for medical and pharmaceutical professionals only”, and an advertisement for a non-prescription drug shall conspicuously indicate that “Please purchase and use in accordance with the package insert or under the guidance of a pharmacist”.
An advertisement for medical devices intended for personal use shall conspicuously indicate that “Please read the product specifications carefully or purchase and use the product under the guidance of medical staff”. If any registered certificate of a medical device product contains any contraindication and precaution, the advertisement for the product shall conspicuously indicate that “For the contraindication and precaution, please refer to the specifications”.
Article 17 Except for advertisements for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals or medical devices, any other advertisement is prohibited from involvement in disease treatment functions or from using medical terms or terms that are likely to confuse the goods being promoted with medicines or medical devices.
Article 18 An advertisement for healthcare food shall not contain any of the following information:
(1) any assertion or guarantee for efficacy and safety;
(2) any involvement of functions of disease prevention or treatment;
(3) any claim or hint that the goods advertised are necessary to keep healthy;
(4) comparison with pharmaceuticals or other healthcare food;
(5) use of the advertisement endorsers to make recommendations or testimonials; or
(6) other contents as prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.Advertisements for healthcare food shall be indicated with the words “This product cannot substitute medicines” conspicuously.
Article 19 Radio stations, TV stations, newspaper, periodical and audio-visual publishers, and internet information service providers shall not publish in disguised form advertisements for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare food by way of introducing knowledge on health or health maintenance or other means.
Article 20 It is prohibited to publish in mass media at public places advertisements for infant dairy products, soft drinks and other food that claim full or partial substitution of breast milk.
Article 21 An advertisement for agricultural pesticides, veterinary medicines, feed and feed additives shall not contain any of the following information:
(1) any assertion or guarantee for efficacy and safety;
(2) use of the names or images of medical research institutes, academic institutions, technology promotion institutions, trade associations or professionals and users for recommendation or testimony as proof of efficacy;
(3) any statement on the effective rate;
(4) text, wordings or images in violation of the safe use procedures; and
(5) other content as prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.
Article 22 It is prohibited to post tobacco advertisements in mass media, public places, public means of transport or at outdoor. It is also prohibited to distribute any form of tobacco advertisements to minors.It is prohibited to use the advertisements or public service advertisements for other products or services to publicize the names, trademarks, packages, decorations or other similar contents of tobacco products.
It is not allowed to contain names, trademarks, packages, decorations or other similar contents of a tobacco product in a notice of relocation, change of the name or recruitment published by the manufacturer or a seller of such tobacco product.
Article 23 An advertisement for alcohol shall not contain any of the following information:
(1) inducing or instigating to drink or promotion of excessive drinking;
(2) appearance of the act of drinking;
(3) demonstrate activities such as driving a car, boat, airplane, etc.; and
(4) explicitly or implicitly suggesting that the consumption of alcohol has the effect of relieving tension and anxiety, increasing physical strength, etc.
Article 24 An advertisement for education or training shall not contain any of the following information:
(1) making express or implied guaranteed promises of advancement, passing examinations, obtaining a degree qualification or certificate of competency, or making express or implied guaranteed promises of the effects of education or training;
(2) explicit or implicit indication of participation of the relevant examination organizations or their staff or examination proposers in education or training; and(3)using the name or image of scientific research entities, academic institutions, educational institutions, trade associations, professionals or beneficiaries for recommendation or as proofs.
Article 25 An advertisement for a product or service with anticipated investment returns shall provide a reasonable prompt or warning of any possible risk and the assumption of the responsibility for any involved risk, and shall not contain any of the following information:
(1) any guaranteed promise of future results, returns or other relevant situations, and express or implied promise for break even, zero risk or guaranteed returns, unless otherwise provided by the State; and
(2) use of the names and images of academic institutions, industry associations, professionals or beneficiaries for recommendation or as proofs.
Article 26 A real estate advertisement shall provide true housing source information and indicate the building area or floor area, and shall not contain any of the following information:
(1) any promise of appreciation or investment return;
(2) indication of the project location with the time required between the project and a specific reference location;
(3) violation of the relevant price regulation of the State; and
(4) misleading publicity on any transportation, commercial, cultural and education facilities, and other municipal amenities that are planned or under construction.
Article 27 Advertisements for crop seeds, forest seeds, grass seeds, breeding animals, aquatic fingerlings, planting, and breeding shall provide authentic, clear, and explicit information of the variety name, production performance, increment or output, quality, resistance, special use value, economic value, scope, and conditions within which it is suitable for planting or breeding, and shall not contain any of the following information:
(1) any assertion that cannot be proved in science;
(2) any assertion or guarantee for efficacy;
(3) analysis, forecast or guaranteed promise of the economic benefits; and
(4) use of the names or images of research institutes, academic institutions, technology promotion institutions, industry associations, professionals and users for recommendation or as proof.
Article 28 An advertisement that deceives or misleads consumers with false or misleading content constitutes false advertisement.An advertisement is a false advertisement if it falls under any of the following circumstances:
(1) where the products or services do not exist;
(2) where he information on products or services are inconsistent with the actual situations in terms of the performance, function, place of origin, purpose, quality, specification, ingredients, price, producer, valid period, sales, awards of the products or the content, provider, form, quality, price, sales and awards of the services, or in terms of any guarantee relating to the products or services, and such inconsistency has a substantial influence on purchase;
(3) where it takes scientific achievements, statistics, research results, abstracts, quotations and other information that are false or forged or cannot be verified as evidentiary materials;
(4) where it claims false effects of the use of the products or services; and
(5) any other circumstance in which the consumers are deceived or misled by false or misleading contents.
Chapter III Code of Conduct for Advertising
Article 29 Radio stations, TV stations and newspaper and periodical publishers that are engaged in advertisement publishing business shall set up an agency dedicated to advertising business, have the necessary personnel, as well as the venues and equipment suitable for the publishing of advertisements.
Article 30 Advertisers, advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall conclude written contracts in advertising activities according to law.
Article 31 Advertisers, advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall not engage in any form of unfair competition in advertising activities.
Article 32 The advertising agents or advertisement publishers commissioned by advertisers for design, production and publishing of advertisements shall have the statutory qualifications for such business.
Article 33 To use the name or image of a person in an advertisement, the advertiser or advertising agent concerned shall obtain the prior written consent of such person; in the case of a person without the capacity for civil conduct or with limited capacity for civil conduct, the advertiser or advertising agent concerned shall obtain the prior written consent of the guardians of such person.
Article 34 Advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall establish sound systems of registration, examination and file management for their advertising business in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State.Advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall inspect and verify the relevant certification documents and check the advertising contents in accordance with the law and administrative regulations. For any advertisement with inconsistent content or incomplete certification documents, no advertising agent shall provide design, production or agent service for it, and no advertisement publisher shall not publish such advertisement.
Article 35 Advertising agents and advertisement publishers shall make public their charging standards and methods.
Article 36 The rate of media coverage, audience rating, click-through rate and size of distribution provided by advertisement publishers to advertisers or advertising agents shall be truthful.
Article 37 No entity or individual may design, produce, provide agency or publish advertisements for products or services which are prohibited from production or sale by laws or administrative regulations, or for products or services whose advertising is prohibited.
Article 38 The recommendation or proof made by an advertisement endorser for a product or service in an advertisement shall be based on facts and in compliance with this Law and the provisions of the relevant laws and administrative regulations, and the endorser shall not make recommendation or proof for a product or service that has never been used or accepted by him/her.The minors under the age of ten shall not be act as advertisement endorsers.
Any natural person, legal person or any other organization that has been administratively punished for making recommendations or proofs in false advertisements and there is less than three years since the imposition of such punishment shall not be used as advertisement endorser.
Article 39 It is prohibited to carry out advertising activities within elementary and secondary schools and kindergartens, or to make use of teaching materials, supplementary teaching materials, workbooks, stationeries, teaching tools, school uniforms, school buses, etc. of elementary and secondary schools and kindergartens to publish or publish in disguised form advertisements, except for public service advertisements.
Article 40 It is prohibited to publish advertisements for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, healthcare food, medical devices, cosmetics, alcohol, beauty products, and online games detrimental to the physical and mental health of the minors in the mass media targeted at minors.Advertisements for products or services targeted at the minors under the age of 14 shall not contain either of the following information:
(1) inducing such minors to ask their parents to buy the products or services advertised; or
(2) being likely to cause such minors to imitate unsafe acts.
Article 41 Local people’s governments at the county level or above shall organize the relevant departments to strengthen the supervision and administration of the publishing of outdoor advertisements in outdoor public places, space and facilities, and formulate the plan for posting outdoor advertisements and the relevant safety requirements.Administrative measures for outdoor advertisements shall be stipulated by local regulations and rules of local governments.
Article 42 No outdoor advertisement shall be posted under any of the following circumstances:
(1) where the outdoor advertisement would make use of traffic safety facilities or traffic signs;
(2) where the outdoor advertisement would affect the normal use of municipal public utilities, traffic safety facilities, traffic signs, firefighting facilities, or fire safety signs;
(3) where the outdoor advertisement would affect production or people’s life or be detrimental to the image of the city; or
(4) where the outdoor advertisement would be posted in construction control areas of state organs, protected cultural relics or scenic spots, or areas where outdoor advertisements are prohibited by people’s governments at the county level or above.
Article 43 No entity or individual may distribute advertisements to the residence, vehicle, etc. of a party concerned or distribute advertisements to such party by electronic means without his/her consent or request.Any advertisement distributed by electronic means shall be indicated expressly with the true identity and contact information of the sender, and the recipients shall be provided with the method to refuse subsequent receipt of such advertisement.
Article 44 All the provisions of the Law apply to the advertising activities carried out via the Internet.The use of Internet to publish or distribute advertisements shall not affect the normal use of the internet by users. Advertisements published on internet pages such as pop-up advertisements shall be indicated with conspicuous mark for close to ensure the close of such advertisements with one click.
Article 45 The administrators of public places, telecommunication service operators or internet information service providers shall prevent an advertisement from being published if they know or should know that the illegal advertisement is published or distributed using their places or information transmission or releasing platforms.
Chapter IV Supervision and Administration
Article 46 The advertisements for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, agricultural pesticides, veterinary medicines or healthcare food, as well as other advertisements required to be reviewed by laws and administrative regulations shall be reviewed by the relevant authorities (hereinafter referred to as the “advertisement review authorities”) before they are published. No such advertisement shall be published without being reviewed.
Article 47 To apply for review of their advertisements, advertisers shall submit the related certification documents to the advertisement review authorities in accordance with laws and administrative regulations.Advertisement review authorities shall, in accordance with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations, make their review decisions, and copy the review decisions on approval to the administrations for market regulation at the same level. Advertisement review authorities shall disclose the advertisements they have approved to the public in a timely manner.
Article 48 No entity or individual may forge, falsify or transfer documents of approval for the review of advertisements.
Article 49 The administrations for market regulation may exercise the following official powers when performing their regulatory responsibilities regarding advertisements:
(1) conducting on-site inspections of the places which have been suspected of being used for carrying out illegal advertising activities;
(2) making inquiries parties suspected of violating the law or their legal representatives, main responsible persons and other relevant personnel, and investigating the relevant entities or individuals;
(3) requiring the parties who are suspected of violating the law to provide the relevant certification documents within a time limit;
(4) reviewing or copying contracts, bills, account books, advertising works and other related materials relating to advertisements which are suspected of violating the law;
(5) seizing or detaining the advertising articles, operational tools, equipment and other property directly relating to advertisements which are suspected of violating the law;
(6) ordering the suspension of the publication of advertisements that may cause serious consequences and are suspected of violating the law; and
(7) other official powers as prescribed by laws and administrative regulations.The administrations for market regulation shall establish a sound monitoring system for advertisements, perfect the monitoring measures, and timely discover and investigate and handle illegal advertising activities in accordance with the law.
Article 50 The department for market regulation of the State Council shall formulate the code of conduct for publishing advertisements making use of the mass media in concert with the relevant authorities under the State Council.
Article 51 When the administrations for market regulation exercise their official powers in accordance with the provisions hereof, the parties concerned shall provide assistance and cooperation, and shall not refuse or obstruct such exercise of official powers.
Article 52 The administrations for market regulation, relevant authorities, and their staff members are obliged to keep confidential any trade secret they come to know in their regulatory activities.
Article 53 Any entity or individual has the right to file a complaint or report to the administration for market regulation and other related authorities on the activities in violation of the Law. The administration for market regulation and other relevant authorities shall make public the telephone number, mailbox or email address used for the acceptance of complaints or reports, and the authorities receiving the complaints or reports shall handle such complaints or reports within seven working days upon the receipt thereof and inform the parties who file the complaints or reports of the handling results.Where the administration for market regulation or any relevant authority fails to perform its responsibility in accordance with the law, any entity or individual has the right to report such failure to the superior organ of the said authority or the supervisory organ. The organ receiving the report shall handle the case in accordance with the law and inform the party reporting the failure of the handling results.
The relevant authorities shall keep confidential the information on the parties who file complaints or reports.
Article 54 Consumers’ associations and other consumers’ organizations shall exercise social supervision over violations of the provisions of this Law, the publishing of false advertisements infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and other acts detrimental to the public interests of society in accordance with the law.
Article 55 With regard to any false advertisement published in violation of the provisions hereof, the administration for market regulation shall order the cessation of the publishing of the advertisement, order the advertiser to eliminate the effects within the corresponding scope, and impose a fine of not less than three times and not more than five times the advertising fees, and where the advertising fees cannot be calculated or are significantly low, a fine of not less than CNY200,000 and not more than CNY1 million shall be imposed; where the illegal activities have been committed more than three times within two years or there are other serious circumstances, a fine of not less than five times and not more than ten times the advertising fees shall be imposed, and where the advertising fees cannot be calculated or are significantly low, a fine of not less than CNY1 million and not more than CNY2 million shall be imposed; the business licenses may be revoked, and the advertisement review authorities shall revoke the approval documents for advertisement review and shall not accept the relevant party’s application for advertisement review for one year.With regard to any medical institution that commits an illegal activity as stipulated in the preceding paragraph with serious circumstance, such medical institution may be subject to the revocation of practicing license for diagnosis items or the medical institution imposed by the public health administrative authority, in addition to the penalties imposed by the administration for market regulation, pursuant to the Law.
With regard to any advertising agent or advertisement publisher who designs, produces, provides agency for or publishes an advertisement even though he/it knows or should know that the advertisement is false, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the advertising fees, and concurrently impose a fine of not less than three times and not more than five times the advertising fees; where the advertising fees cannot be calculated or are significantly low, a fine of not less than CNY200,000 and not more than CNY1 million shall be imposed; where the illegal activities have been committed more than three times within two years or there are other serious circumstances, a fine of not less than five times and not more than ten times the advertising fees shall be imposed, and where the advertising fees cannot be calculated or are significantly low, a fine of not less than CNY1 million and not more than CNY2 million shall be imposed; and the relevant authority may impose the suspension of advertisement publishing business, or revocation of business license.
Any advertiser, advertising agent or advertisement publisher who has committed the act as set out in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article, which constitutes a criminal offence, shall be held liable criminally in accordance with the law.
Article 56 With regard to any false advertisement published in violation of provisions of this Law that deceives or misleads consumers, causing damage to the legitimate rights and interests of consumers who have purchased the products or used the services so advertised, the advertiser shall bear civil responsibilities in accordance with the law. If the advertising agent or advertisement publisher fails to provide the true name, address and valid contact information of the advertiser, the consumers may require the advertising agent or advertisement publisher to make advance compensation.Where a false advertisement for a product or service relating to the life and health of consumers causes damage to the consumers, the advertising agent, advertisement publisher or advertisement endorser for such advertisement shall bear joint and several liabilities with the advertiser.
Where a false advertisement for a product or service other than those as set out in the preceding paragraph causes damage to the consumers, the advertising agent, advertisement publisher or advertisement endorser for such advertisement shall bear joint and several liabilities with the advertiser if it/he still designs, produces, provides agency, publishes or makes endorsements or proofs for the advertisement even though it/he knows or should know that the advertisement is false.
Article 57 With regard to any of the following acts, the administration for market regulation shall order the cessation of the publishing of the advertisement, and impose a fine of not less than CNY200,000 and not more than CNY1 million upon the advertiser; in a serious circumstance, the business license may be revoked, and the advertisement review authorities shall revoke the approval document for advertisement review and shall not accept the relevant party’s application for advertisement review for one year. With regard to the advertising agent or advertisement publisher, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the advertising fees and impose a fine of not less than CNY200,000 and not more than CNY1 million on it, and in a serious circumstance, the business license may be revoked concurrently:
(1) publishing any advertisement falling under any of the circumstances as prohibited by the provisions of Articles 9 and 10 hereof;
(2) publishing advertisements for prescription medicines, pharmaceutical precursor chemicals, medical devices and methods for drug addiction treatment in violation of the provisions of Article 15 hereof;
(3) publishing advertisements for infant dairy products, soft drinks or other food that claim full or partial substitution of breast milk in violation of the provisions of Article 20 hereof;
(4) publishing advertisements for tobacco products in violation of the provisions of Article 22 hereof;
(5) using advertisements to promote products or services which are prohibited from production or sale by laws or administrative regulations, or products or services whose advertising is prohibited in violation of the provisions of Article 37 hereof; or
(6) publishing advertisements for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, healthcare food, medical devices, cosmetics, alcohol, beauty products, and online games detrimental to the physical and mental health of the minors in the mass media targeted at minors in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 40 hereof.
Article 58 With regard to any of the following acts, the administration for market regulation shall order the cessation of the publishing of the advertisement, order the advertiser to eliminate the effects within the corresponding scope, and impose a fine equivalent to the amount to three times the amount of the advertising fees; where the advertising fees cannot be calculated or are significantly low, a fine of not less than CNY100,000 and not more than CNY200,000 shall be imposed; in a serious circumstance, a fine of not less than three times and not more than five times the advertising fees shall be imposed; where the advertising fees cannot be calculated or are significantly low, a fine of not less than CNY200,000 and not more than CNY1 million shall be imposed; and the business license may be revoked, and the advertisement review authorities shall revoke the approval document for advertisement review and shall not accept the relevant party’s application for advertisement review for one year:
(1) publishing advertisements for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, or medical devices in violation of the provisions of Article 16 hereof;
(2) publishing advertisements concerning disease treatment function, or using medical wordings or wordings that are easy to cause confusion between the products promoted and pharmaceuticals and medical devices in violation of the provisions of Article 17 hereof;
(3) publishing advertisements for healthcare food in violation of the provisions of Article 18 hereof;
(4) publishing advertisements for agricultural pesticides, veterinary medicines, feeds and feed additives in violation of the provisions of Article 21 hereof;
(5) publishing advertisements for alcohol in violation of the provisions of Article 23 hereof;
(6) publishing advertisements for education and training in violation of the provisions of Article 24 hereof;
(7) publishing advertisements for products or services with anticipated investment returns in violation of the provisions of Article 25hereof;
(8) publishing advertisements for real estate in violation of the provisions of Article 26 hereof;
(9) publishing advertisements for crop seeds, forest seeds, grass seeds, breeding animals, aquatic fingerlings, planting, and breeding in violation of the provisions of Article 27 hereof;
(10) using minors under the age of ten as advertisement endorsers in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 38 hereof;
(11) using natural persons, legal persons or other organizations as advertisement endorsers in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 3 of Article 38 hereof;
(12) using articles relating to elementary and secondary school students and little kids to publish advertisements in elementary and secondary schools and kindergartens in violation of the provisions of Article 39 hereof;
(13) publishing advertisements for products or services targeted at minors under the age of 14 in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 40 hereof; and
(14) publishing advertisements without being reviewed in violation of the provisions of Article 46 hereof.Any medical institution falling under any of the circumstances set out in the preceding paragraph may be subject to the revocation of practicing license for diagnosis items or the medical institution imposed by the public health administrative authority in a serious circumstance, in addition to the penalties imposed by the administration for market regulation pursuant to the Law.
Where an advertising agent or advertisement publisher designs, produces, provides agency for or publishes an advertisement even though it knows or should know the existence of the illegal acts as set out in Paragraph 1 of the present article, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the advertising fees, and concurrently impose a fine equivalent to the amount to three times the amount of the advertising fees; where the advertising fees cannot be calculated or are significantly low, a fine of not less than CNY100,000 and not more than CNY200,000 shall be imposed; where the circumstance is serious, a fine of not less than three times and not more than five times the advertising fees shall be imposed, and where the advertising fees cannot be calculated or are significantly low, a fine of not less than CNY200,000 and not more than CNY1 million shall be imposed; and the relevant authority may impose the suspension of advertisement publishing business, or revocation of business license.
Article 59 With regard to anyone who commits any of the following acts, the administration for market regulation shall order the offender to cease publishing of the advertisement, and impose a fine of not more than CNY100,000 on it:
(1) the content of advertisement does not comply with the provisions of Article 8 hereof;
(2) the content cited in the advertisement does not comply with the provisions of Article 11 hereof;
(3) an advertisement in which patents are involved does not comply with the provisions of Article 12 hereof; or
(4) the advertisement belittles products or services of other producers or operators in violation of the provisions of Article 13 hereof.With regard to any advertising agent or advertisement publisher who designs, produces, provides agency for or publishes an advertisement even though it knows or should know the existence of the illegal acts as set out in the preceding paragraph, the administration for market regulation shall impose upon it a fine of not more than CNY100,000.
With regard to any advertisement that does not comply with the provisions of Article 14 hereof, and is not identifiable, or with regard to any advertisement for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, medical devices or healthcare fool that is published in disguised form in violation of the provisions of Article 19 hereof, the administration for market regulation shall impose upon the advertisement publisher concerned a fine of not more than CNY100,000.
Article 60 With regard to any advertising agent or advertisement publisher who violates the provisions of Article 34 hereof by failing to establish a sound advertising business management system in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, or by failing to check the contents of an advertisement, the administration for market regulation shall order it to make corrections, and may impose upon it a fine of not more than CNY50,000.With regard to any advertising agent or advertisement publisher who violate the provisions of Article 35 hereof by failing to disclose its charging standards and methods, the price authorities shall order it to make corrections, and may impose upon it a fine of not more than CNY50,000.
Article 61 With regard to any advertisement endorser who falls under any of the following circumstances, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate his/her illegal proceeds, and impose a fine equivalent to the amount or double the amount of his/her illegal proceeds upon him/her:
(1) making endorsements or testimonials in an advertisement for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, or medical devices in violation of the provisions of Item 4, Paragraph 1 of Article 16 hereof;
(2) making endorsements or testimonials in an advertisement for healthcare food in violation of the provisions of Item 5, Paragraph 1 of Article 18 hereof;
(3) making endorsements or testimonials in an advertisement for a product or service that the said endorser has never used or accepted in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 38 hereof; or
(4) making endorsements or testimonials in an advertisement for a product or service even though the said endorser knows or should know the advertisement is false.
Article 62 With regard to any advertisement distributed in violation of the provisions of Article 43 hereof, the relevant authority shall order the cessation of the illegal act and impose upon the advertiser a fined of not less than CNY5,000 and not more than CNY30,000.Where an advertiser uses the internet to publish an advertisement but fails to indicate conspicuously the mark for close to ensure the close with one click, which violates the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 44 hereof, the administration for market regulation shall order the advertiser to make corrections and impose upon it a fine of not less than CNY5,000 and not more than CNY30,000.
Article 63 With regard to the administrator of a public place, a telecommunication business operator or internet information service provider that violates the provisions of Article 45 hereof by failing to stop advertising activities which it knows or should know are illegal, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate its illegal proceeds and impose a fine equivalent to the amount to three times the amount of the illegal proceeds if such proceeds are not less than CNY50,000, or a fine equivalent to CNY10,000 to CNY50,000 if such proceeds are less than CNY50,000. In a serious circumstance, the relevant business shall be suspended by the relevant authorities in accordance with the law.
Article 64 Where the truth is concealed or false materials are provided in violation of the provisions hereof during the application for advertisement review, the advertisement review authorities shall not accept the application or shall not grant the approval and shall also issue a warning. The advertisement review authorities shall not accept the said applicant’s advertisement review application for the same product or service for one year. Where the applicant obtains the approval of advertisement review by improper means such as deception or bribery, the advertisement review authorities shall revoke the approval and impose a fine of not less than CNY100,000 and not more than CNY200,000. The advertisement review authorities shall not accept the said applicant’s advertisement review application for the same product or service for three years.
Article 65 Where the approval documents for advertisement review are forged, falsified or transferred in violation of the provisions of the Law, the administration for market regulation shall confiscate the illegal proceeds and impose a fine of not less than CNY10,000 and not more than CNY100,000 on the offender.
Article 66 Any illegal act as set out in the Law will be recorded into the credit files by the administration for market regulation concerned and be disclosed to the public in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws and administrative provisions.
Article 67 Where radio stations, TV stations, or newspaper, periodical and audio-visual publishing entities publish illegal advertisements, or publish in disguise advertisements in the form of news report, or publish in disguise advertisements for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, medical devices or healthcare food by introducing knowledge on health or health maintenance or by other ways, the administrations for market regulation shall impose upon them punishments pursuant to the Law, and shall notify the competent authorities of press, publication, radio and TV and other relevant authorities of the punishments. The competent authorities of press, publication, radio and TV and other relevant authorities shall impose sanctions on the responsible persons-in-charge and the directly liable personnel in accordance with the law; where the circumstance is serious, the advertisement publishing business of the media may also be suspended.Where the competent authorities of press, publication, radio and TV and other relevant authorities of the punishments fail to impose any punishment on the radio stations, TV stations, or newspaper, periodical and audio-visual publishing entities in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the responsible persons-in-charge and the directly liable personnel shall be subject to the sanctions in accordance with the law.
Article 68 Any advertiser, advertising agency or advertising publisher that commits any of the following tortuous acts in violation of the provisions of this Law shall bear civil liability pursuant to the law:
(1) the content of an advertisement is harmful to the physical and mental health of minors or disabled people;
(2) the advertisement uses patent rights of other parties without due authorization;
(3) the advertisement belittles products or services of other manufacturers or business operators;
(4) the advertisement uses the names or images of other parties without the prior authorization thereof; and
(5) other acts that infringe upon the legitimate civil rights and interests of other parties.
Article 69 Where the legal representative of a company or enterprise whose business license is revoked due to publishing of false advertisements or other illegal acts as set out in the Law is personally liable for such illegal acts, he/she shall not take the office of director, supervisor or senior officer of the company or enterprise for three years from the date on which the said company’s or enterprise’s business license is revoked.
Article 70 Whoever violates the provisions of this Law by refusing or hindering supervision and inspection conducted by the administration for market regulation or commits an act which constitutes violation of public security administration will be subject to punishment public security administration pursuant to the law; where the case constitutes a criminal offence, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Article 71 Where the advertisement review authority approves an advertisement with illegal content, the responsible persons-in-charge and directly liable personnel shall be subject to punishments imposed by the authorities that are responsible for their appointment or removal or the supervisory authorities; and where a crime is constituted, the criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with the law.
Article 72 Where any administration for market regulation does not conduct investigation and punishments in accordance with the law on illegal advertising activities discovered in performing the responsibility for monitoring advertisements or on illegal advertising activities under complaints or reports, the responsible persons-in-charge and directly liable personnel shall be subject to sanctions in accordance with the law.Any staff of the administrations for market regulation and the relevant authorities responsible for affairs in connection with advertisement management who derelict their duties, abuse their power, or practice favoritism or other irregularities, will be subject to sanctions in accordance with the law.
For a criminal offence constituted due to any of the acts as set out in the preceding two paragraphs, the criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with the law.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Article 73 The State encourages and supports the promotion activities of public service advertisements, to disseminate core socialist values and advocate civilized social conduct.The mass media has the obligation to publish public service advertisements. Radio stations, TV stations, and newspaper and periodical publishers shall publish public service advertisement based on the layout of the page, time frame and length of time as required. The administrative measures for the public service advertisements shall be formulated by the administration for market regulation under the State Council in concert with the relevant authorities.
Article 74 The Law shall come into force as of September 1,2015.