ICP licence (abbreviation for Internet Content Provider; Chinese: ICP备案; pinyin: ICP bèi'àn; literally: "ICP registration/filing") is a permit issued by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to permit China-based websites to operate in China. The ICP licence numbers for Chinese websites can often be found on the bottom of the front webpage.
Contents
History
This licence regime was instated by the Telecommunications Regulations of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国电信条例) that was promulgated in September 2000. All websites with their own domain name that operate inside China are required to obtain a licence, and China-based Internet service providers are required to block the site if a licence is not acquired within a grace period. Licences are issued at the provincial level.
Operating from China is also a prerequisite for acquiring a licence. Foreign companies such as Google, unable to acquire an ICP licence on their own, often partner with Chinese Internet companies to use the licences of the Chinese company.
Details
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issues two different types of ICP numbers, which are managed at the provincial level:
Obtaining an ICP number takes an average span of 20 business days after submission of documents to a hosting provider. If the documents are deemed valid upon review by the provider, they are forwarded onto the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for further review. If at either stage the documents are rejected, the applicant is required to submit additional documents.