The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said late Tuesday that applications that do not have correct files would be penalised after the grace period expires in March of next year.
China’s information ministry said that all mobile app providers in the nation would be required to disclose company details with the government, marking the latest step by Beijing to keep the industry under check.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said late Tuesday that applications that do not have correct files will be penalized once the grace period expires in March next year, a move that experts warn might limit the number of apps and hurt small developers hard.
According to You Yunting, a lawyer with Shanghai-based DeBund Law Offices, the directive essentially necessitates clearance from the government. According to him, the new law is primarily intended to prevent online fraud, but it will affect all apps in China.
Rich Bishop, creator of app publishing startup AppInChina, believes the new restriction would also affect foreign-based developers who had previously been able to quickly publish their apps through Apple’s App Store without having to submit any proof to the Chinese government.
According to Bishop, in order to comply with the new laws, app developers must now either have a firm in China or collaborate with a Chinese publisher.
Apple did not respond quickly to a request for comment.
Last week, the iPhone manufacturer removed over a hundred artificial intelligence (AI) apps from the App Store to conform with laws imposed by China, which created a new licencing scheme for generating AI programmes in the nation.
According to the notification, organisations “engaged in internet information services through apps in such fields as news, publishing, education, film and television, and religion should also submit relevant documents.”
The restriction may have an impact on the availability of major social networking applications like X, Facebook, and Instagram. Although such applications are not permitted in China, they may still be downloaded from app stores, allowing Chinese citizens to use them when travelling abroad.
China currently requires mobile games to get licences before they can be released in the nation, and by 2020, it had removed tens of thousands of unlicensed games from various app shops.
Tencent’s WeChat, China’s most popular online social network, said on Wednesday that micro applications, which may be accessed within WeChat, must also adhere to the new guidelines.
According to the firm, new applications must complete the file before launch beginning in September, while existing micro apps have until the end of March.
