The first thing many bosses hear when building websites is: "You have to register this website." The second sentence immediately followed is often: "It's very troublesome to register. Why don't we just use the Hong Kong server to avoid filing?" Who is right? Is filing a formality or a hard threshold? How to go about corporate website registration? This article explains the rules thoroughly and breaks down the process into steps you can follow.
1. Give the conclusion first: When is it necessary to prepare and when is it necessary to use it?
There is only one core criterion: whether your domain name will ultimately be resolved/directed to servers in China (mainland China) to provide external services.
As long as the actual traffic to your website goes to servers in China (Alibaba Cloud/Tencent Cloud/Huawei Cloud/other mainland nodes of IDC), you must file with ICP (which is what everyone verbally calls "website filing"). If you point out the domain name without filing, there is a high probability that access will be blocked and you may be ordered to rectify or impose fines.
If your server is in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, or overseas (the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, etc.), you do not need to go through the ICP filing process.
But don't mistake "filing exemption" as "don't care about anything": Even if the server is overseas, as long as you do commercial promotion to mainland users (especially investing in Baidu/information streaming/brand trust), you will encounter two practical problems--
1) Mainland access speed is more susceptible to cross-border links;
2) Many advertising accounts and platform reviews prefer "domestic compliance sites".
Therefore, exemption from filing is more of a "technical path choice" and does not mean "full compliance exemption".
There is also a very key sentence: ICP filing ≠ Public Security Online filing. The two are two systems, with different competent departments and different orders.
ICP filing: The "Internet Information Service Filing/Domain Name Information Filing" managed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is essentially one of the entry barriers for website launch.
Public security online filing (many people call it "Internet security filing/Public security filing"): It is biased towards security protection and online use registration, and usually requires the website to go to the public security organ to handle/declare within a certain period of time after it is officially connected.
Many local cyber police will emphasize that website operators often need to fulfill the obligations related to "double filing", ICP filing is a necessary condition for start-up, and public security online filing is declared after start-up.
2. What will happen if you don't file the case (not to scare you, but the logic of the original text of the law)
If you have clearly resolved the domain name to a mainland server, but have been dragging on not registering with ICP:
Access will be intercepted/blocked by the access side or the monitoring system (the phenomenon you see is "domain name cannot be opened/redirected to the prompt page/IP blocked")
According to regulations, you may also face penalties such as correction within a time limit and fines. Refusal to correct is even more serious.
If you require online public security filing but don't do it for a long time, you may also risk being warned or even suspended for rectification (the implementation standards will vary from place to place, but don't gamble that "no one cares about my small station").
3. Before filing an ICP on the corporate website, align the 4 things first (otherwise it will be easy to be called back repeatedly)
1) Determine the server/access provider first
In actual operation, most of the ICP filing is submitted through your server access service provider (cloud vendor or IDC)'s filing system, so you must use the mainland node server first (it is usually also required to meet service conditions such as purchase time/open filing authorization).
2) Domain name real-name certification must be consistent with the filing entity
When a company is filed, use the name of the company to name the domain name. Don't make a low-level mistake such as "the domain name is a personal name, and the company name is written for filing." Domain names must also ensure that real-name verification is completed and the status is normal.
3) Confirm whether your industry involves "pre-approval"
In sensitive areas such as news, publishing, education, medical medicine, medicine, medicine and equipment, culture, radio and television, it is often necessary to obtain the consent document/license from the competent authority before filing, otherwise the website name and content will easily be blocked for review. General industries (manufacturing, trade, service industry, pan-enterprise official website) are generally not involved.
4) Think about the "person in charge" and the "authorization relationship"
Enterprise filing usually requires true traceability between the person in charge of the subject and the person in charge of the website/Internet information service; if the person in charge of the website is not a legal person, authorization materials are usually required (the rules of different provincial administrations vary slightly).
4. What materials should be prepared for enterprise ICP filing (General List version, 90% of the cases are sufficient)
There will be details differences between different cloud platforms and different provinces, but if you follow this preparation, you will basically not catch it:
Enterprise entity: The business license is clearly scanned/electronic (ensure that it is within the validity period)
Legal ID card: clear front and back sides
ID card of the person in charge of the website/information service: clear and colorful scanning on the front and back (many provinces require the person in charge to be 18 years old)
Authenticity verification: Nowadays, most App-side Face Recognition is used for live verification (the early offline "curtain photography" has been replaced by online verification in many channels, but it still depends on your access provider and local implementation rules)
If the person in charge is not a legal person: some scenarios require a power of attorney/seal materials from the legal representative
Domain name certificate/registration information page (some channels require it to prove the ownership relationship)
Pre-approval documents for special industries (if applicable)
5. Enterprise ICP filing process (write according to "the steps you really need to take" instead of the official instructions)
Step 1: Buy a good mainland server/get a registration authorization
You must first have the access carrier of the "mainland node", then enter the ICP filing portal on the service provider's console, and complete the real name of the main account (the real name of the individual or enterprise).
Step 2: Select the filing type
There are four common situations, and the system will usually guide you:
Your company has never had a filing number: go "first filing/new entity"
There is already a registration number but a new site needs to be opened on this server: go "New website/New Internet information service"
If you want to move to this server with another service provider, go "Access Registration/Add Access"
Don't make the wrong choice. If you choose the wrong one, you may have to go through more change processes in the future.
Step 3: Fill in the subject information
The company's full name is exactly the same according to the business license; the ID number is not slippery; the mailing address should be written as much as possible to write the real address that can be received/contacted (not the one with a glittering house but no one answers the phone).
Step 4: Fill in website/information service information
Website name: Don't write it too "marketing exaggeration." Many management bureaus don't like unfounded terms such as "China XX Group" and "the world's first XX." Don't directly plug the company's full name without business (it can be used but can easily be required to change it to a more standardized website name)
Choose a category that is close to reality (corporate official website/information services/e-commerce, etc.), and don't randomly choose "portal/forum/social" that may trigger additional review
Only fill in the first-level domain name/second-level domain name combination you really want to use. Don't pile in all test domain names and possible future uses.
Step 5: Upload materials + face verification
Follow the prompts to upload the business license, ID card, and authorization letter (if any), and then use the person in charge's mobile phone to make a live face. All pictures ensure that the four corners are complete, do not reflect light, and do not excessively beautify and peel (if the feature points are ground, they will not be recognized but will get stuck).
Step 6: Preliminary review of the service provider (usually takes about 1 - 2 working days)
Alibaba Cloud's document mentions that the preliminary review takes about 1 - 2 working days. If there is any problem with the material, they will reject it and tell you where to change it. As long as you cooperate with the changes, it is usually very fast.
Step 7: Verification of SMS by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (very critical)
After passing the preliminary review, the person in charge will usually receive a verification text message sent by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on his mobile phone. He must log in to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology filing system to complete the Captcha verification within the specified time (common requirement is within 24 hours), otherwise the filing will be shelved/returned. Many people are stuck at this step of "not paying attention to text messages".
Step 8: Review by the Provincial Communications Administration Bureau (also known as "review by the Administration Bureau")
The legal maximum is no more than 20 working days. In reality, fast provinces may be about a week, and slow provinces may be more than ten working days. You can't rush this link. Patiently wait for the results of the SMS/in-station letter.
Step 9: Hang out the filing number (Don't miss this step, otherwise it will easily be identified as "filing but not public")
After the filing is approved, your ICP filing number must be clearly marked at the bottom of the website, and the filing number must be clickable/linked to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's filing inquiry portal (this is a display specification explicitly required).
At the same time, many places also remind: After the website is opened/connected, remember to make public security online filing and application according to regulations (don't treat it as an optional tail).
6. One of the easiest pits to step on: Can the website be accessed during the filing period?
The rule is very straightforward: in the mainland server scenario, do not point domain name resolution to mainland IP to provide Internet information services to the outside world before completing the filing; otherwise, it will easily be blocked and may affect the filing progress.
The common practice is: after the filing is approved, then cut and analyze/unblock the site access; during the filing period, you can use the "temporary description page/internal preview only/test with overseas temporary address first", but don't leave the complete site hardtop on.
7. If you really don't want to register with ICP, can you use a Hong Kong/overseas server?
Yes, technically allowed (no ICP registration is required), but you have to accept three things:
You have to bear the cross-border access experience yourself (especially when there are many pictures, many videos, or your users are concentrated in the mainland);
You will explain the cost more in certain promotion/launch/corporate trust scenarios;
The focus of compliance will become: You still have to operate legally, comply with content, and comply with data security and privacy. Don't think that "no filing = no one cares."
8. Give your decision one sentence
What you are doing is a serious corporate official website, a long-term brand, a search/information stream, and a customer can open it quickly without being intercepted: honestly go to the mainland server + ICP filing + hang the filing number + make up the public security network filing. The process is troublesome for a while, but it will be troublesome for several years.
You are just making a short-term activity page/test station/station for overseas users: Hong Kong/overseas nodes can omit ICP registration, but treat it as a "project trade-off" and not a "loophole".
If you are willing, send me three points: (1) Do you intend to place the server in mainland China or Hong Kong/overseas? (2)Industry (Is it medical/education/finance/recruitment/forum)? (3)Whose real name is the current domain name and whether the company has just been established, I can give you a "filing template that will be at least called back" based on the situation of your company (how to write the website name more stably, how to set the person in charge the most convenient, and which fields are the easiest to block your management).