Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on the Record-filing of Mobile Internet Apps

Promulgation Authorities: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

Release Date: 2023-07-21

Effective Date: 2023-07-21

Source: https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202308/content_6897341.htm

Original Title: 工业和信息化部关于开展移动互联网应用程序备案工作的通知

Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on the Record-filing of Mobile Internet Apps

The communications administrations of all provinces, autonomous regions and centrally-administered municipalities, the China Institute of Information and Communication Technology, the Internet Society of China, basic telecommunications enterprises, public welfare interconnection entities, Internet access service providers, Internet data center service providers, content distribution network service providers, mobile Internet application distribution platforms (including distribution of small programs and fast applications, etc.), smart terminal manufacturers, and Internet information service providers,

In order to implement the requirements of the Law of the People’s Republic of China Against Telecommunications and Internet Frauds, the Administrative Measures on Internet-based Information Services (Decree No. 292 of the State Council) and other laws and regulations, promote the standardized and healthy development of the Internet industry, and to further improve the administration of mobile Internet information services, we hereby organize the record-filing of mobile Internet applications (hereinafter referred to as “Apps” in short). Relevant matters are notified as follows:

I. General Requirements

We should, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly study and implement the important thought of General Secretary Xi Jinping on making the country powerful through the network and the important instructions and the guidelines of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the fight against and punishment of the crime of telecommunications and Internet frauds, adhere to the principles of law-based administration, openness and transparency, and convenience and efficiency, safeguard cybersecurity and public interests, protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens and organizations, and promote the standardized and healthy development of the Internet industry.

II. Work Contents

(I) Any APP sponsor that engages in Internet information services within the territory of the People’s Republic of China shall go through the record-filing formalities in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China Against Telecommunications and Internet Frauds, the Administrative Measures on Internet-based Information Services (Decree No. 292 of the State Council) and other regulations. Any APP sponsor that fails to complete the record-filing formalities shall not engage in APP Internet information services.

(II) The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology supervises and guides the APP record-filing nationwide. The communications administrations of all provinces, autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities are responsible for supervising the administration of the APP record-filing.

(III) The network resources such as domain names and IP addresses used by an APP sponsor shall comply with the Administrative Measures on Internet Domain Names (Decree No. 43 of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology), the Administrative Measures for the Record-filing of Internet IP Addresses (Decree No. 34 of the former Ministry of Information Industry), the Notice of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Regulating the Use of Domain Names in Internet Information Services (Gong Xin Bu Xin Guan [2017] No. 264) and other management requirements.

(IV) An APP sponsor shall truthfully fill in the Filing and Registration Form for Record-filing of Internet-based Information Services (hereinafter referred to as the Registration Form for Record-filing) and the relevant letter of commitment.

Any sponsor that engages in news, publishing, education, film and television, religion and other APP Internet information services shall also submit the approval document issued by the competent authorities to the provincial communications administration at the place where it is domiciled:

The competent telecom authorities may adjust the contents of the Registration Form for Record-filing and the relevant letter of commitment in light of actual circumstances.

(V) An APP sponsor shall go through the record-filing formalities with the provincial communications administration at the place where it is domiciled through  its network access service provider and the APP distribution platform (hereinafter referred to as the “distribution platforms” in short) by means of online submission for application and inspection and review via the “national management system for basic internet resources” (namely, the information record-filing management system for ICP/IP addresses/domain names, hereinafter referred to as the “record- filing system”).

(VI) Network access service providers and distribution platforms shall check the real identity of users, network resources and other information of organizations or individuals intending to engage in the internet information services for the APP, and shall not go through the record-filing formalities on behalf of the said organizations or individuals when they know or should know that the information is inaccurate.

(VII) Upon receipt of the record-filing materials submitted by an APP sponsor, the provincial communications administration shall process the record-filing within 20 working days, issue a record-filing number and publicize the record-filing information to the public through the record- filing system, provided that the materials are complete and accurate; otherwise, the record-filing shall not be processed, with the reasons explained.

(VIII) An APP sponsor shall indicate its record-filing number in a prominent position of the APP and link the URL of the record-filing system below the record-filing number for public inquiry and verification. Distribution platforms shall mark the record- filing number information of the Apps they distribute in a prominent position and report the relevant information of the Apps distributed to the competent telecommunications authorities.

Where the APP information is changed or deregistered, the APP sponsor shall go through the formalities for change or deregistration with the original record-filing authority.

(IX) Network access service providers, distribution platforms and smart terminal manufacturers shall not provide network access, distribution, pre-installation and other services for Apps that have not completed the record-filing formalities.

(X) APP sponsors, network access service providers, distribution platforms and smart terminal manufacturers shall establish a sound mechanism for monitoring and handling illegal or irregular information. For any information found out whose release or transmission is prohibited by laws and administrative regulations, They shall forthwith stop the transmission of such information, take measures such as deletion to prevent the information from spreading, keep relevant records, report the same to the competent telecommunications authorities, and handle the matter as required by the competent telecommunications authorities.

III. Work Arrangements

(I) Phase of preparation (by the end of August 2023). The communications administrations of all provinces, autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities shall organize the APP sponsors, network access service providers and distribution platforms within their respective jurisdictions to clarify the management requirements, formulate implementing plans, so as to ensure the steady progress of the relevant work. Network access service providers and distribution platforms shall, as required, establish and upgrade the enterprise-side record-filing system, complete the test of docking with the ministry-side record-filing system, and have the functions of APP information record-filing and verification, etc.

(II) Phase of record-filing of existing Apps (September 2023 – March 2024). Any App that has carried out business before the promulgation of this Notice shall, in accordance with this Notice, go through the record-filing formalities with the provincial communications administration at the place where it is domiciled through its network access service provider or distribution platform. To be specific, those that have completed the website record-filing formalities are only required to supplement and improve the relevant information of their Apps, and do not have to fill in the real identity information of the sponsor repeatedly. In the absence of the website record-filing information, the record-filing formalities shall be completed in accordance with the provisions of this Notice.

Any App that proposes to carry out business after the promulgation of this Notice shall go through the record-filing formalities in accordance with the requirements of this Notice before carrying out business.

(III) Phase of supervision and inspection (April 2024 – June 2024). The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will organize the inspection of the record-filing of Apps. The communications administrations of all provinces, autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities shall timely urge the relevant entities to fill in, supplement and update the filed information of Apps and inspect the access, distribution and pre-installation of Apps by network access service providers, distribution platforms and smart terminal manufacturers. The communications administrations of all provinces, autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities shall, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, deal with any App that fails to go through the record-filing formalities or engages in illegal activities.

(IV) Phase of normalized work (from July 2024 to long-term). The communications administrations of all provinces, autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities will regularly organize network access service providers, distribution platforms and smart terminal manufacturers to assess the accuracy of the filed information of Apps, take effective technical measures to strengthen the compliance management of Apps, and improve the level of supervision over the mobile internet.

IV. Work Requirements

(I) Improving the political position and strengthening the organization and leadership. All entities shall fully understand the significance of the record-filing of Apps in strengthening the basic management of the internet, promoting the standardized and healthy development of the internet industry, deepening the prevention and control of telecommunication and internet frauds, and maintaining cybersecurity and information security. They shall also, under the work arrangements, strengthen the implementation of primary responsibilities, and ensure the completion of all the work on time and in a high-quality manner.

(II) Clarifying primary responsibilities and strictly implementing the work. Communications administrations shall strengthen the supervision and inspection of enterprises, and timely discover hidden problems and weak links. Network access service providers, distribution platforms and smart terminal manufacturers shall strengthen the implementation of their work and responsibility assessment, timely handle problems encountered in the work, and report the same to the competent telecommunications authorities.

(III) Strengthening technical guarantee and providing strong support. The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and the Internet Society of China shall properly carry out the development and operation of the record- filing system, strengthen the sharing and analysis capacity of the data of filed Apps, actively cooperate with competent telecommunications administrations in effectively answering questions, conducting publicity and providing guidance in connection with the record- filing management of Apps, and effectively support various regulatory work in respect of Apps.

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology