Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising

Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising

(Issued by Order No. 72 of the State Administration for Market Regulation on February 25, 2023, coming into force on May 1, 2023)

Article 1 This law is developed to regulate Internet advertising activities, protect the lawful rights and interests of consumers, promote the sound development of the Internet advertising industry, and maintain the market economic order of fair competition, under the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as “Advertising Law”), the E-Commerce Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “E-Commerce Law”), and other laws and administrative regulations.

Article 2 The Advertising Law and these Measures shall apply to commercial advertising activities which directly or indirectly market goods or services, through websites, web pages, Internet application programs, and other Internet media, in the form of scripts, images, audio, video, or other means, within the territory of the People's Republic of China.

If any law, administrative regulation, departmental rule, mandatory national standard, or other relevant provision prescribed by the state so requires, information shall be displayed, marked, and notified.

Article 3 Internet advertisements shall be authentic and lawful, adhere to correct orientations, present advertising content in a sound form of expression, and conform to the requirements of the construction of socialist spiritual civilization and the promotion of the excellent traditional Chinese culture.

One engaged in advertising activities by the Internet shall comply with laws and regulations, be honest and trustworthy, and compete fairly.

The state encourages and supports Internet public service advertising activities, disseminates core socialist values and excellent traditional Chinese culture, and advocates proper practices.

Article 4 The provisions of the Advertising Law and these Measures on advertisement publishers shall apply to any natural person, legal person, or other organization that publishes advertisements by the Internet for an advertiser or an advertising agent acting on behalf of the advertiser.

The provisions of the Advertising Law and these Measures on Internet information service providers shall apply to any natural person, legal person, or other organization that provides information services by the Internet; where Internet advertisement design, production, agency, or publication or any other activity is engaged in, the provisions of the Advertising Law and these Measures on advertising agents, advertising publishers, and other entities shall apply.

Article 5 An advertising industry organization shall, in accordance with laws, regulations, departmental rules, and its bylaw, formulate industry standards, self-regulatory conventions, and group standards, strengthen industry self-regulation, guide members in voluntarily holding core socialist values and engaging in Internet advertising activities in accordance with the law, promote integrity, and boost the sound development of the industry.

Article 6 Where any law or administrative regulation prohibits the production or sale of a product or the provision of a service or prohibits the advertising of a good or service, no entity or individual may design, produce, serve as an agent for, or publish any advertisement by the Internet.

Publishing tobacco (including e-cigarette) advertisements by the Internet shall be prohibited.

Publishing prescription drug advertisements by the Internet shall be prohibited, except where laws and administrative regulations provide otherwise.

Article 7 Before any advertisement on a medical service, drug, medical instrument, pesticide, veterinary drug, dietary supplement, or food for special medical purposes or any advertisement otherwise subject to censorship in accordance with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations is published, the relevant department shall censor advertising content; and the advertisement shall not be published without undergoing censorship.

An Internet advertisement subject to censorship shall be published in strict accordance with the content approved by censorship, without editing, assembling, or modification. If the advertising consent as censored needs to be changed, a new application for censorship of the advertisement shall be filed.

Article 8 Publishing an advertisement for medical care, a medicinal product, a medical device, a dietary supplement, or food for special medical purposes under the guise of imparting health or health preservation knowledge, among others, shall be prohibited.

If health or health preservation knowledge is imparted, the address, contact information, shopping link, or any other information of the distributor or provider of any relevant medical care, medicinal product, medical device, dietary supplement, or food for special medical purposes shall not be presented on the same page or concurrently.

Article 9 An Internet advertisement shall be identifiable, enabling consumers to identify it as an advertisement.

For goods or services that appear resulting from advertisement auction, an advertisement publisher shall clearly indicate “advertisement” to clearly distinguish them from organic search results.

Except under circumstances where laws and administrative regulations prohibit publishing advertisements directly or in disguise, when promoting goods or services in the form of knowledge imparting, experience sharing, or consumption evaluation, among means, accompanied by a shopping link or any other purchase method, the advertisement publisher shall clearly indicate “advertisement.”

Article 10 An advertiser or advertisement publisher publishing an Internet advertisement in the form of pop-up, among others, shall distinctively indicate the closing sign to ensure one-click closing and shall not fall under the following circumstances:

(1) There is no closing sign, or the advertisement can be closed only if its countdown ends.

(2) The closing sign is false, is not clearly identifiable, or is difficult to locate, among others, or there is an obstacle to closing the advertisement.

(3) Not less than two clicks are required to close the advertisement.

(4) When the same page or the same document is viewed, advertisements continue to pop up after being closed, affecting the normal use of the network by users.

(5) Other acts that affect one-click closing.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply to the app open advertisements displayed and published when Internet application programs are opened.

Article 11 Deceiving or misleading users by the following means into clicking on or viewing advertisements shall be impermissible:

(1) A false system or software update, an error report, cleanup, a notification, or any other reminder.

(2) A false play, start, pause, stop, return, or other sign.

(3) A false reward offer.

(4) Otherwise deceiving or misleading users into clicking on or viewing advertisements.

Article 12 Advertisements for medical care, medicinal products, dietary supplements, foods for special medical purposes, medical devices, cosmetic products, alcohol beverages, or cosmetic surgery or advertisements for online video games adverse to the physical and mental health of minors shall not be published......