China is the world’s most populous country, and its rapidly growing economy presents significant opportunities for businesses to expand their customer base. Advertising in China allows companies to target a vast and diverse market, reaching potential customers through various mediums, including online, print, and broadcast media.
The State Administration for Market Regulation has recently revised and issued the “Internet Advertising Management Measures” to ensure the orderly development of the advertising market and protect the rights and interests of consumers. The new measures are scheduled to be implemented from May 1, 2023, and are expected to promote the sustainable and healthy growth of the Internet advertising industry.
Let’s delve into the key changes brought by the revised measures and their potential impact on the industry and consumers.
Changes in management of advertising in China
The State Administration for Market Regulation recently issued the revised “Internet Advertising Management Measures,” which contain provisions to ensure that the production and sale of certain products or services that are prohibited from advertising are not advertised on the internet. The new measures also prohibit any unit or individual from using the internet to produce, design, act as an agent or publish advertisements.
In addition, the measures ban the publication of tobacco and prescription drug advertisements on the internet. Moreover, advertisements for medical treatment, drugs, medical devices, pesticides, veterinary drugs, health food, formula food for special medical purposes, and others that require review by laws and administrative regulations should be reviewed by the advertising review authority before publication. Without review, these advertisements cannot be released.
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The new regulations require that internet advertisements that must be reviewed should be published strictly in accordance with the reviewed content and should not be edited, spliced, or modified. If the content of an advertisement that has passed the examination needs to be changed, a new application for examination of the advertisement shall be made.
It is also prohibited to publish advertisements disguised as health and wellness knowledge for medical treatment, drugs, medical devices, health food, and formula food for special medical purposes. The new measures also prohibit the inclusion of the address, contact information, shopping links, and other content of commodity operators or service providers of related medical treatment, drugs, medical devices, health food, and formula food for special medical purposes on the same page or at the same time while introducing health and wellness knowledge.
The revised “Internet Advertising Management Measures” are set to be implemented from May 1, 2023. These measures are expected to promote the sustainable and healthy growth of the internet advertising industry, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and ensure the orderly development of the advertising market.
The new regulations are likely to have a significant impact on advertisers and online platforms, and they will need to carefully review their advertisements to comply with the new guidelines.