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ICP Filing:Apply for an ICP filing as an enterprise registered outside the Chinese mainland

Last Updated:Feb 28, 2024

If an enterprise registered Regions outside Mainland China intends to build a website in the Chinese mainland and host the website on an instance located in Mainland China, the enterprise needs to apply for an Internet Content Provider (ICP) filing for the website based on requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). This topic describes the ICP filing precautions and requirements for enterprises registered outside the Chinese mainland.

Precautions

You can apply for an ICP filing in the Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system on a PC or on the Alibaba Cloud app. Before you apply for an ICP filing, take note of the following information:
  • The Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system and the Alibaba Cloud app support only the Chinese language. Make sure that you can read, write, and understand Chinese when you apply for an ICP filing.
  • You can use your Alibaba Cloud account that is created on the Alibaba Cloud international site (alibabacloud.com) to log on to the Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system and apply for an ICP filing. However, you must use the Alibaba Cloud app to upload documents. After you download and install the Alibaba Cloud app, use it to scan the QR code on the page for uploading documents. You do not need to log on to the Alibaba Cloud app to perform this operation. We recommend that you create an Alibaba Cloud account on the Alibaba Cloud China site (aliyun.com) to apply for an ICP filing and manage ICP filing information.
  • If the entity leader of the ICP filing application is not a resident from the Chinese mainland, the website administrator must perform facial recognition for identity verification. Under special circumstances, the system notifies the entity leader and the website administrator to perform facial recognition for identity verification.
    Note In specific cases, the system notifies the legal representative to perform facial recognition. Complete the steps as prompted.
  • You must use an Alibaba Cloud account that is created on the Alibaba Cloud China site (aliyun.com) to log on to the Alibaba Cloud app. Alibaba Cloud accounts that are created on the Alibaba Cloud international site (alibabacloud.com) are not supported by the Alibaba Cloud app. We recommend that you create an Alibaba Cloud account on the Alibaba Cloud China site (aliyun.com) to apply for an ICP filing in the Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system.
  • If an enterprise registered outside the Chinese mainland has a branch registered in the Chinese mainland, the enterprise can apply for an ICP filing by using the registration certificate of its branch. If an enterprise registered outside the Chinese mainland does not have a branch registered in the Chinese mainland, the enterprise must apply to the Administration for Industry and Commerce for a Registration Certificate of Resident Representative Office of Foreign Enterprises and use it as a business license to apply for an ICP filing.
    Note If an enterprise registered outside the Chinese mainland does not have a branch registered in the Chinese mainland but has an office established, the enterprise can apply to the Administration for Industry and Commerce in the name of this office for a Registration Certificate of Resident Representative Office of Foreign Enterprises and use it as a business license to apply for an ICP filing. Communications administrations in specific provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities allow enterprises to apply for an ICP filing in the name of offices. However, enterprises cannot apply for commercial ICP licenses in this way.
  • When an enterprise registered outside the Chinese mainland submits an ICP filing application in the Alibaba Cloud ICP Filing system, the province or city where the application is submitted must be the same as that registered in the registration certificate of the enterprise.
  • The MIIT checks whether the website services, instance location, and access method in your ICP filing information meet the requirements. We recommend that you verify your ICP filing information to ensure that it meets the requirements before you apply for an ICP filing. For more information, see Prepare and check the instance and access information.

Requirements

The preparation of a built website to provide services for external systems involves three aspects: the instance and access information, website information, and entity information, as shown in the following figure. Scenarios:
  • Websites hosted on instances located in Mainland China require an ICP filing, whereas websites hosted on instances located Regions outside Mainland China do not.
    Note

    If a website provides services to Mainland China, a Public Security Bureau (PSB) filing is required. For more information, see the PSB Filing FAQs topic in the ICP filing documentation on the Alibaba Cloud China site (aliyun.com).

  • The MIIT reviews the following information about a website:
    • Instance and access information

      The MIIT checks whether the instance location and access method in your ICP filing information meet the requirements. We recommend that you verify your ICP filing information to ensure that it meets the requirements before you apply for an ICP filing. For more information, see Prepare and check the instance and access information.

    • Website information

      The MIIT checks whether the name and content of the website meet compliance requirements and whether the website administrator exists.

    • Entity information

      The MIIT checks whether the entity of your website exists and meets compliance requirements. If an enterprise registered outside the Chinese mainland has a branch registered in the Chinese mainland, the enterprise can apply for an ICP filing by using the registration certificate of its branch. If an enterprise registered outside the Chinese mainland does not have a branch registered in the Chinese mainland, the enterprise must apply to the Administration for Industry and Commerce for a Registration Certificate of Resident Representative Office of Foreign Enterprises and use it as a business license to apply for an ICP filing.

  • To use Alibaba Cloud CDN to accelerate content delivery in Mainland China or global regions, you must apply for an ICP filing for the domain name for CDN. For more information, see Use Alibaba Cloud CDN.
  • To use the Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) and Server Load Balancer (SLB) instances deployed in the Chinese mainland, you must pass the ECS product verification. After an ICP filing is obtained, resolve the domain name to the public IP address of the SLB instance.