For a quick approval of an Internet Content Provider (ICP) filing, we recommend that you prepare in advance according to the following requirements.

Read and understand ICP regulations

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has different regulations and requires different documents for ICP filing applications in different provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities of China. We recommend that you read and understand the ICP filing regulations of different provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. For more information, see MIIT ICP Filing Management System.

Prepare and check the domain name

You need to fill in the domain name of your website for an ICP filing application. Your domain name must meet the following requirements:
  • The top-level domain (TLD) has been approved by MIIT.
  • The domain name is valid.
  • Your domain name registrar has been approved by MIIT.
    Note The Alibaba Cloud international website (alibabacloud.com) provides registration services only for international domain names. Domain names registered with this website (alibabacloud.com) must meet the following requirements for an ICP filing application:
    • Domain names that are registered with international registrars such as the Alibaba Cloud international website (alibabacloud.com) after January 1, 2018 must be transferred to registrars in mainland China and complete real-name verification before the ICP filing procedure. For more information about how to transfer the registration of domain names to the domain name service of Alibaba Cloud China website (aliyun.com), see Transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud.
    • Domain names that have been registered with international registrars such as the Alibaba Cloud international website (alibabacloud.com) before January 1, 2018 are not required to be transferred.
  • For an individual ICP filing application, the registrant must be the holder of the website. For an organizational ICP filing application, the registrant can be the organization (including shareholders), the major principal, or a senior executive of the organization.
  • The domain name has passed real-name verification.
    Note If real-name verification is not completed or the real-name verification information is inconsistent with the filing entity information, the ICP filing order cannot be submitted or the ICP filing review may fail. For more information, see ICP filing regulations of MIIT in different regions. You must submit the required ICP filing information based on corresponding regulations.
  • The filing entity information filled for the ICP filing application must be consistent with the real-name verification information of the registrant (the domain name holder). Verify the following information: name, type of identity document, and identification number.
For more information about domain name preparation and check, see Prepare and check the website domain name.

Purchase and check the instance for ICP filing applications

To apply for an ICP filing through the Alibaba Cloud ICP filing system, you must purchase an Alibaba Cloud instance deployed in mainland China. You can apply for an ICP filing for your domain name if the corresponding website is hosted on any type of Alibaba Cloud instance listed in the following table.
Table 1. Supported instances and maximum websites
Instance type Purchase requirement Purchase link Quantity of service identification numbers
Elastic Compute Service (ECS)
  • The instance is deployed in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be three months or more (including renewal).
  • You must purchase the public bandwidth.
Note
  • You cannot apply for service identification numbers for pay-as-you-go instances.
  • For more information about the public bandwidth, see Overview of specification changes.
ECS Up to five for each instance
Web Hosting
  • The instance is deployed in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be three months or more (including renewal).
 Web Hosting Up to five for each instance
Simple Application Server
  • The instance is deployed in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be three months or more (including renewal).
 Simple Application Server Up to five for each instance
Elastic Web Hosting
  • The instance is deployed in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be six months or more (including renewal).
 Elastic Web Hosting Up to five for each Alibaba Cloud account
Instance from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace for website building
  • The initial subscription duration must be 12 months or more.
  • The order amount must be RMB 99 or more.
 Alibaba Cloud Marketplace One for each instance
Network Address Translation (NAT) Gateway
  • The instance is deployed in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be one month or more.
 NAT Gateway Up to two for each instance
IPv6 Translation Service
  • The instance is deployed in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be one month or more.
 IPv6 Translation Service Up to two for each instance
Edge Node Service (ENS)
  • The instance is deployed in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be three months or more (including renewal).
 ENS Up to five for each instance
IoT Package
  • The subscription duration must be six months or more.
  • The order amount must be RMB 99 or more.
 IoT Package One for each package
Note
  • If the remaining time before your ECS instance or Elastic Web Hosting instance expires cannot meet the requirements for ICP filing application, you must renew your subscription before you apply for an ICP filing.
  • You can apply for only a limited number of service identification numbers for each instance. You cannot increase the upper limit by renewing subscription of the instance. If the number of service identification numbers reaches the upper limit, you need to purchase a new instance for more identification numbers.
For more information about instance preparation and check, see Prepare and check the instance information (access information).

Prepare materials required for applying for an ICP filing

You must prepare and upload a scanned copy or color photo of the following materials:
  • Basic materials
    Note If the entity of an ICP filing is an individual, the identity documents of the entity leader and website administrator, and the certificate of the organization shall be the identity document of the individual. You need to upload the identity document only once in the Alibaba Cloud ICP filing system.
    Type Scenario Materials to upload
    Identity document of the entity leader Verify the identity of the entity leader. Individual: the ID card or other identity documents of the individual.
    Enterprise: the ID card or other identity documents of the legal representative.
    Note If the entity leader or website administrator is not a resident of mainland China, provide the following valid certificates as needed:
    • Residents of Hong Kong and Macao, China: the Residence Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents or the Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents.
    • Residents of Taiwan, China: the Residence Permit for Taiwan Residents or the Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents.
    • Residents outside mainland China: the passport.
    Identity document of the website administrator Verify the identity of the website administrator.
    Certificate of the organization Verify the information of the organization. Individual: the ID card or other identity documents of the individual.

    Enterprise: the business license or other certificates of the enterprise.
  • Auxiliary materials
    Type Scenario
    A photo of you holding your identity document For individual ICP filing applications, some provincial and municipal administrations require that you upload a photo of the website administrator holding his/her identity document, for example, his/her ID card or registered permanent residence page.
    A photo of you holding the certificate of the organization For organizational ICP filing applications, some provincial and municipal administrations require that you upload a photo of the website administrator holding the corresponding certificate of the organization, for example, the business license.
    Power of attorney Some provincial and municipal administrations require that you provide a power of attorney from the entity leader or the website administrator if the entity leader or the website administrator is not the legal representative of the enterprise.
    Certificate of the registrant Some provincial and municipal administrations require that a domain name must be under an organization. If the corresponding domain name is under an individual, you must provide a certificate of the registrant for the ICP filing application.
    Website construction proposal The Guangdong provincial administration requires that you provide a website construction proposal if the ICP filing entity has too many domain names.
    Domain name certificate Some provincial administrations require that you provide a domain name certificate. For more information about the regulations of administrations in different provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, see ICP filing regulations of MIIT in different regions.
    Temporary or permanent residence permit Some provincial administrations, such as the Fujian provincial administration, require that you submit a scanned copy or color photo of the temporary or permanent residence permit if the domicile registered on your ID card is inconsistent with the province where you submit the filing application.
    Certificate issued by the commission office of public sectors reform Provincial administrations of Yunnan, Nei Mongol, Heilongjiang, and Jiangxi require that public institutions and government agencies provide a certificate issued by the commission office of public sectors reform when they apply for ICP filings.
    Certificate of change If the enterprise name is changed, you must provide a certificate of change issued by the Administrative Department for Industry and Commerce when you apply for an ICP filing.
    Certificate of employment If the identification number of an entity leader or a website administrator appears in the ICP filing information of multiple organizations or individuals, some provincial administrations, such as the Sichuan provincial administration, require that you provide a certificate of employment of the entity leader or website administrator.
    Business statement If the name, business scope, website name, and website remarks of an organization in Sichuan province contain business-related terms, and such organization is not required to obtain an ICP license as notified by the local administration, a business statement of the organization must be provided for ICP filing applications.
For more information about other materials to upload, see Required materials.
When uploading the materials, you must comply with the following requirements:
  • If no separate upload button is provided for certain auxiliary materials, you need to use a drawing tool to splice the photos of the auxiliary materials and the certificate of the ICP filing entity into one image and then upload the image.
  • The ratio between the front and back of the entity leader's identity document must be 1:1. We recommend that you take the photos to be uploaded in the same background and light environment, and keep the camera lens and the identity document at almost the same distances and positions.
  • Make sure that the uploaded certificates are valid.
  • You can upload images in the JPG, JPEG, PNG, or GIF format. The size of each image must be smaller than 4 MB.
    Note If an image fails to be uploaded but its format and size meet the requirements, you can clear the browser cache or use another browser such as Google Chrome to upload the image again.
  • Upload scanned copies or color photos of these materials.
  • To make sure that your ICP filing application can be approved, you must upload clear, complete, and valid images.

Register an Alibaba Cloud account

Before you apply for an ICP filing in the Alibaba Cloud ICP filing system, you must register an Alibaba Cloud account. We recommend that you prepare and register an Alibaba Cloud account for ICP filing in advance. For more information, see Register an Alibaba Cloud account.

Optional. Complete the pre-approval process

If your website involves information on some special industries, such as news, publishing, medicine, and medical devices, you must complete the pre-approval process before applying for an ICP filing. You need to provide the corresponding pre-approval documents when applying for an ICP filing.

For more information about the industries that require completing the pre-approval process and relevant instructions, see Pre-approval.