China: The new app filing regime keeps mobile apps under tight scrutiny

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT) published the Notice on the Filing of Mobile Internet Applications (Notice) in August last year, ushering in a new mobile application (app) filing regime in China. As the approximately 6-month grace period specified in the Notice has come to its end (on 31 March), local authorities across the country (including those in Guangdong, Jiangxu, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia) have recently released enforcement warnings urging apps to complete their filing obligations. Last month app stores such as Vivo Developers announced that it cleaned up over 700 apps without ICP filing. 

We examine the key requirements and market responses in relation to the Notice, and provide our insights below for app operators to consider.

What does the Notice entail?

Filing requirements

Apps and mini programs that act as the Internet content provider (ICP) in the PRC must undergo ICP filings, a long-established registration system originally required for websites to legally operate in China, through their “Internet service access providers” before they can be provided in the China market. “Internet service access providers” include major market players, e.g. Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, AppGallery.

All apps and mini programs which are connected to the Internet are captured by the filing requirement under the Notice.

Grace period

Apps should have completed their ICP filings between September 2023 and March 2024. Review by the MIIT on the app filings started from April 2024. 

In other words, apps that have not yet fulfilled the filing requirements should take immediate action to avoid facing negative consequences, including apps being removed from the relevant stores.

What is the procedure for the app ICP filing?

In general, an app ICP filing entitles:

• submission by the app operator of a filing application to an Internet service provider (or a distribution platform, in case of a mini program);
• preliminary review of the filing by the corresponding Internet service provider;
• confirmation by the app operator in the MIIT’s filing system of its identity information; 
• material review of the filing and the result notification by the MIIT; and
• display of the ICP number by the app operator on its corresponding app.

An application would commonly cover the following information:

• basic information of the app operator;
• basic information of the app, including the name and icon of the app, list of the app’s domain names, ID and MD5, SDK, the operating platform, the licensing certificate (if applicable), and the app’s language; and 
• the app’s Internet access details, including the name of the Internet access service provider, the method of access, the location of the server, and the IP address.

How has the market reacted to the Notice?

Major platforms in China have been implementing the requirements in the Notice since its release. For instance, Apple has requested new apps to submit ICP filing numbers before they are allowed to be listed in the app store. A new application without an ICP filing number will be rejected.

Based on our observations, in practice, different app stores have set different deadlines for app filings as part of their own rules to implement the statutory requirements. For instance, some app stores (e.g. Xiaomi, Vivo and Huawei) announced that they would bring forward the deadline for filings to mid-December 2023 and begin to remove apps that failed to complete the filings by early January 2024. 

This practice has merit, given that app stores are required under the Notice to ensure that apps that are distributed through their platforms comply with the filing requirements. That said, we have also heard of extensions to the deadline potentially being granted.

What will be the impact of failure to complete the app filing?

Network access, distribution, presets and other services are not allowed to be provided for apps without the ICP filings. As such, apps that fail to complete the ICP filings will now risk being removed from app stores.

In addition, according to the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services, failure to complete the ICP filings could also attract a fine of up to RMB50,000 (approx. USD7,000).

How would regulators enforce the Notice?

We expect that the regulators would strictly enforce the filing requirements.

The PRC regulators continue to emphasise the importance of cyber and data security. In particular, app scrutiny seems to have long been a front-of-mind issue in the PRC – as early as January 2019, the MIIT and other ministries jointly announced a rectification programme targeting misuse of personal information by app operators in China, following which various implementing rules have been issued and apps generally remain under scrutiny by relevant Chinese authorities.

Upon release of this Notice, Apple allegedly sought to liaise with the PRC regulators, only be told that the requirements in the Notice should be “strictly implemented”.

On the horizon

Various local regulators have issued warnings that apps failing to complete the filings would risk being removed from the app stores. App operators are reminded to start filings as early as possible if they have not done so.

On a more generic note, the Notice hints at China’s effort to keep the app sector under its tight supervision. We will closely watch this space and keep you posted on further updates in this respect!