Ensuring Accessibility of Apps in China
CNBW member
Article by Fabian Knopf and Connie Chen
https://www.rplawyers.com
Mail: knopf@rplawyers.com
Given the 31 March 2024 deadline set by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in their notice on registering mobile internet applications (APPs but also Mini Programs), companies hosting content on servers outside of mainland China may have to rethink their strategy.
Situation post 31 March 2024
. For Apps (incl. Mini Programs; same as below) that are pre-installed on a smart phone or downloaded by a user: Registration should be completed through the relevant network access service provider. For example, the holder of an App hosted on Tencent Cloud’s cloud service should conduct registration through the Tencent Cloud portal.
. Apps hosted outside of mainland China cannot be registered, which means these Apps will need to convert to local servers and domain names to continue running in mainland China.
. Apps will be removed if the holder fails to register before the deadline.
. MIIT is expected to conduct an enforcement drive from April to July 2024.
What about APPs hosted outside of mainland China?
While Appss that are hosted outside of mainland China cannot complete the registration, will the enforcement actions affect them? The simple answer is that we do not yet know. In general, Apps hosted outside of mainland China must also fulfill the registration obligation, even if this is not possible through the current registration process – and there is no expectation that this will change in the future.
While hosting can be done through a third party, the holder of the content has to be a company registered in mainland China. So merely moving the content onto servers of a hosting service provider in mainland China will not suffice.
We do not expect Apps hosted outside of mainland China will get the same scrutiny from the enforcement of authorities as Apps hosted in mainland China. However, consider the situation with websites. Websites hosted on mainland Chinese servers must be registered locally, and while there is no uniform approach, everyone knows examples of enforcement. Considering the similarities between websites and Apps, a similar enforcement approach may apply.
What options do companies have?
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