What you’ll learn in this guide:
hibited content or topics, it won’t get blocked.
Even if your website is hosted outside mainland China, it can still rank well on the country’s largest search engines, including Baidu. Website speed does affect rankings, but the hosting location does not.
It’s possible for non-Chinese individuals and businesses to buy a .cn domain name should you want to go down this route. (According to some official sources, you shouldn’t be able to buy a .cn domain name korea phone number and host a site on it abroad, but it works.)
This is obvious, perhaps, but if you already have a website outside China and choose to host one inside, keep in mind that you’ll need to maintain two websites.
You do not need a China-hosted website to be able to advertise.
Your in-country website, email services, and data are all completely accessible to the Chinese government and its agents.
TWO OTHER REASONS TO GET AN ICP LICENSE
You’ll also want an ICP license if you want to put a mobile app or game on a Chinese app store.
And, there are some cases where you will need a registered Chinese business to operate in China. For example, if you work in the medical industry, you might not be able to advertise at all unless you have a Chinese business entity and further documentation. Then, to advertise the business, you’ll need an ICP license.
FAKE REASONS TO GET AN ICP LICENSE
Let’s clear up a few myths.
You do not need one to advertise your non-Chinese business (except in certain circumstances).
You do not need one for your website to be indexed by Baidu.
The Difference between Personal and Commercial ICP Licenses
There are two types:
Personal (ICP备案)
Commercial (ICP许可证)
A personal ICP license is the basic-level document and can be used for general websites and apps. You would need it if your website/app is
a business website without e-commerce functionality (like the one you’re reading now);
a personal blog;
a standalone Chinese-language website for a university; or,
a mobile app/game that doesn’t have in-app advertising or purchases.
The commercial version grants all the benefits of a personal license, as well as websites/apps with e-commerce functionality. You’ll need a commercial ICP license if your website/app is
an e-commerce website hosted in China;
a mobile app or game that has in-app purchases; or,
a mobile app or game that contains advertising.
Note: you could still choose to host an e-commerce website outside of China without an ICP license and probably even accept payments via Chinese payment methods.
Required Documents
For a personal ICP license application, you will require: