This topic provides an overview of the preparations that you must make before you apply for an Internet Content Provider (ICP) filing. For a quick approval of an ICP filing, we recommend that you make preparations in advance.

Read and understand ICP filing regulations

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

Prepare a domain name

You must provide the domain name of your website when you apply for an ICP filing. Your domain name must meet the following requirements:
  • The top-level domain name is approved by the MIIT.
  • The domain name is valid.
  • Your domain name registrar is approved by the MIIT.
    Note The Alibaba Cloud international site (alibabacloud.com) provides registration services only for internationalized domain names. Domain names registered with this website must meet the following requirements:
    • Beginning from January 1, 2018, if your domain names are registered with international domain name registrars such as the Alibaba Cloud international site (alibabacloud.com), you must transfer the domain names to registrars in mainland China and complete real-name verification before you apply for an ICP filing. For more information about how to transfer the domain name to the Domains service of the Alibaba Cloud China site (aliyun.com), see Transfer a domain name to Alibaba Cloud.
    • Domain names that have been registered with international domain name registrars such as the Alibaba Cloud international site (alibabacloud.com) and have obtained an ICP filing before January 1, 2018 do not need to be transferred.
  • For an ICP filing application from an individual, the domain name registrant must be the individual. For an ICP filing application from an organization, the registrant can be 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 ICP filing entity information, the ICP filing application cannot be submitted and the application may fail the review. For more information, see ICP filing regulations of MIIT in different regions. You must submit required ICP filing information based on corresponding regulations.
  • The entity information provided during ICP filing application must be consistent with the real-name verification information of the domain name registrant. Such information includes the name, type of identity document, and identification number.
For more information about how to prepare and check your domain name, see Prepare and check the domain name.

Purchase and prepare an instance

To apply for an ICP filing by using the Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system, you must purchase an Alibaba Cloud instance in Mainland China. You can apply for ICP filings for your domain names if the corresponding websites are hosted on Alibaba Cloud instances of the service types listed in the following table.
Table 1. Supported instance service types and maximum number of supported websites
Instance service type Purchase requirement Purchase URL Quantity of service identification numbers
Elastic Compute Service (ECS)
  • The instance is deployed in an Alibaba Cloud region in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be three months or more (including renewal).
  • You must purchase an Internet bandwidth package.
Note
  • You cannot apply for service identification numbers if the instance uses the pay-as-you-go billing method.
  • For more information about how to purchase an Internet bandwidth package, see the Adjust Internet bandwidth section in the Overview of instance upgrade and downgrade topic.
ECS Up to five per instance
Cloud Web Hosting
  • The instance is deployed in an Alibaba Cloud region in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be three months or more (including renewal).
 Cloud Web Hosting Up to five per instance
Simple Application Server
  • The instance is deployed in an Alibaba Cloud region in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be three months or more (including renewal).
 Simple Application Server Up to five per instance
Elastic Web Hosting
  • The instance is deployed in an Alibaba Cloud region in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be six months or more (including renewal).
 Elastic Web Hosting has been offline since December 2019. The instances purchased before the offline date can still be used for ICP filing application. We recommend that you purchase Cloud Web Hosting for future use. Up to five per instance
Network Address Translation (NAT) Gateway
  • The instance is deployed in an Alibaba Cloud region in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be one month or more.
 NAT Gateway Up to two per instance
IPv6 Translation Service
  • The instance is deployed in an Alibaba Cloud region in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be one month or more.
 IPv6 Translation Service Up to two per instance
Edge Node Service
  • The instance is deployed in an Alibaba Cloud region in Mainland China.
  • The subscription duration must be three months or more (including renewal).
 ENS Up to five per instance
IoT Package
  • The subscription duration must be six months or more.
  • The order amount must be CNY 90 or more.
 IoT Package One per package
Product from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace for website building
  • The initial subscription duration must be 12 months or more.
  • The order amount must be CNY 99 or more.
  • You shall carefully read the introduction to the product from Alibaba Cloud Marketplace for website building and confirm that the server used by the product is located in Mainland China before purchase. Otherwise, you will not be able to proceed with the subsequent ICP filing application procedures. If you are not sure where the server is located, consult customer service first to ensure that the server is located in Mainland China.
Alibaba Cloud Marketplace One per instance
Note
  • If the remaining time before your Elastic Compute Service (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 quantity of service identification numbers for each instance. You cannot increase the upper limit by renewing the subscription of the instance. If the quantity of service identification numbers reaches the upper limit, you must purchase another instance for more identification numbers.
For more information about how to prepare and check your domain name, see Prepare and check the instance and access information.

Prepare materials required for an ICP filing

You must prepare and upload a scanned copy or a color photo of the following materials:
  • Basic materials
    Note If the entity that applies for an ICP filing is an individual, the identity document of the individual is used as the identity document of the entity leader, the identity document of the website administrator, and the certificate of the organization. You are required to upload the identity document only once in the Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system.
    Type of the material Scenario Materials to upload
    Identity document of the entity leader Verify the identity of the entity leader. Individual: the identity document of the individual, such as the ID card.
    Enterprise: the identity document of the legal representative, such as the ID card.
    Note If the entity leader or website administrator is a resident outside Mainland China, provide the following valid identity document as needed:
    • Residents of Hong Kong (China) and Macao (China): a Residence Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents or a Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents.
    • Residents of Taiwan (China): a Residence Permit for Taiwan Residents or a Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents.
    • Residents outside Mainland China: passport.
    Identity document of the website administrator Verify the identity of the website administrator.
    Certificate of the organization Verify the information about the entity. Individual: the identity document of the individual, such as the ID card.

    Enterprise: the certificate of the enterprise, such as the business license.
  • Auxiliary materials
    Type of the material Scenario
    Photo of the website administrator holding the personal identity document If the ICP filing entity is an individual, some provincial and municipal authorities require that you upload a photo of the website administrator holding the personal identity document, for example, the ID card or registered permanent residence page of the website administrator.
    Photo of the website administrator holding the certificate of the organization If the ICP filing entity is an organization, some provincial and municipal authorities 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 authorities require that you provide a power of attorney for the entity leader or website administrator if the entity leader or website administrator is not the legal representative of the enterprise.
    Certificate of the registrant Some provincial and municipal authorities 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 authority requires that you provide a website construction proposal if the ICP filing entity has excessive domain names.
    Domain name certificate Some provincial authorities require that you provide a domain name certificate. For more information about the regulations of authorities in different provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, see ICP filing regulations of MIIT in different regions.
    Temporary or permanent residence permit Some provincial authorities, such as the Fujian provincial authority, require that you submit a scanned copy or color photo of the original temporary or permanent residence permit if the domicile registered on your ID card is not located in the province where you submit the ICP filing application.
    Certificate issued by the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform (SCOPSR) Authorities of Yunnan Province, Heilongjiang Province, Jiangxi Province, and the Nei Mongol autonomous region require that public institutions and government agencies provide a certificate issued by the SCOPSR when they apply for an ICP filing.
    Certificate of change If the ICP filing entity is an enterprise and the enterprise name is changed, you must provide a certificate of change issued by the corresponding industry and commerce authority when you apply for an ICP filing.
    Certificate of employment If the certificate number of an entity leader or a website administrator appears in the ICP filing information of multiple organizations or individuals, some provincial authorities, such as the Sichuan provincial authority, require that you provide a certificate of employment of the entity leader or website administrator.
    Business statement If the name, business scope, website name, or website remarks of an organization in Sichuan Province contain commerce-related terms, and such organization is not required to obtain an ICP commercial license as notified by the local authority, a business statement of the organization must be provided for ICP filing applications.
For more information about other required materials, see Required materials.
When you upload the materials, comply with the following requirements:
  • If no separate upload button is provided for certain auxiliary materials, you must use a drawing tool to splice the photos of the auxiliary materials and the certificates of the ICP filing entity into one image and then upload the image.
  • The ratio between the photos for 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.

Create an Alibaba Cloud account

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

Obtain a pre-approval (Optional)

If your website involves information about some special industries, such as news, publishing, medicine, and medical devices, you must obtain a pre-approval before you apply for an ICP filing. You must provide the corresponding pre-approval documents during the ICP filing application.

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