Mainland hosting requires the appropriate filing, and your connectivity provider must hold its own telecommunications license
For a noncommercial information website hosted in mainland China, complete filing before launch. Failure can bring a correction order and RMB 10,000 fine, followed by closure if not corrected. Failing to display the filing number on the homepage can bring a separate RMB 5,000–50,000 fine.
What it takes
The Chinese filing is free and is normally submitted through the hosting provider. Processing commonly takes days to weeks. Allow ten minutes to check the provider's qualifications.
What you may gain
The filing measures prohibit providing noncommercial internet information services within China without filing. Noncompliance brings an order to correct within a deadline and a RMB 10,000 fine; refusal leads to closure. Connectivity providers may not supply access to unfiled noncommercial information services. Telecommunications providers may not supply access or fee-collection services to organizations or individuals lacking the required commercial license or noncommercial filing. Colocation and cloud-server services fall within the internet data center category, and internet access is a separate regulated telecommunications category; providers themselves need the corresponding licenses. Failure to show a filing number on a website's homepage brings a correction order and RMB 5,000–50,000 fine. These are Chinese rules.
Context & considerations
Before discussing price, check the provider in MIIT's telecommunications business market management system, tsm.miit.gov.cn, using its full company name or license number. Check website filings at beian.miit.gov.cn. An unlicensed “data center” can leave you with little practical recourse when something fails. Hosting abroad can remove the mainland-hosting filing step, but it does not by itself remove applicable obligations to mainland users or transactions described in entries 5–10, and can add cross-border data compliance work.
Research & references
Ministry of Information Industry (2005). Measures for the Administration of Noncommercial Internet Information Service Filing, Order No. 33, amended by MIIT Order No. 68 in 2024, Articles 5, 13, 18, and 22. https://www.miit.gov.cn/gyhxxhb/jgsj/cyzcyfgs/bmgz/xxtxl/art/2024/art_84a0cfa0ebd049bbbe751dca9a008e56.html; Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (2017). Measures for the Administration of Telecommunications Business Licensing, Order No. 42, Articles 20 and 24. https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2017/content_5240090.htm; Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (2015). Telecommunications Business Classification Catalogue, 2015 edition, B11, B14, B21, and B25. https://www.miit.gov.cn/zwgk/zcwj/wjfb/tg/art/2020/art_e98406cd89844f7e92ea1bcf3b5301e0.html