Published by ChinaMNC · Yibin

China Website Identity Certification Explained for Foreign Founders

A Sichuan provincial government portal listing shows how China's MIIT-supervised website identity marks work, including two-year validity and periodic inspections. Here is what foreign founders should know about compliance for company websites in China.

What This Source Actually Covers

The source is a website identity management record (标识管理) for the Sichuan Provincial People's Government portal, published through a certification platform associated with the China Internet Society. It is not a guide to company registration. For a foreign founder, its value is narrower but still practical: it illustrates the kind of website identity certification and evaluation that Chinese public-facing sites undergo, and what the validity and inspection cycle looks like.

Below we separate the concrete facts in the record from the broader compliance questions a foreign founder should raise with advisers when setting up a China entity and a China-facing website.

Key Facts in the Record

Issuing and supervising bodies

• The supervising authority listed is the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部).
• The issuing body listed is the China Internet Society (中国互联网协会).
• The record carries an electronic identity number for the site.

Validity periods

• Both the PC website identity certification and the WAP (mobile) website identity certification show a two-year validity period.
• The stated period runs from 27 January 2026 to 26 January 2028.
• The certificate certification section shows the same two-year validity and the same dates, with a downloadable stamped evaluation report on accessibility and elderly-friendly design for the Sichuan government portal.

Periodic inspection

• Scheduled inspection dates are listed as 26 July 2026, 26 January 2027 and 26 July 2027.
• The inspection result recorded is "passed" (通过).

Evaluation scores

• PC site: overall evaluation score 86.2; elderly-friendly self-evaluation 100, institutional evaluation 82, user evaluation 83; accessibility self-evaluation 100, institutional evaluation 83, user evaluation 83; effectiveness indices for comprehensiveness, reliability and robustness each at 100%.
• WAP site: overall evaluation score 85.4; elderly-friendly self-evaluation 100, institutional evaluation 82, user evaluation 81; accessibility self-evaluation 100, institutional evaluation 80, user evaluation 82; effectiveness indices each at 100%.

These figures relate to a government portal and should not be read as benchmarks for a private company website.

Why a Foreign Founder Should Care

If you register a company in China and operate a website or app aimed at Chinese users, website identity marking and accessibility expectations are part of the operating environment, not an afterthought. The record shows three features worth building into your China launch plan:

• Certification has an expiry date. A two-year cycle means renewal is a recurring compliance task, not a one-off filing. Put the expiry date in your compliance calendar at incorporation.
• Inspections are scheduled in advance. The listed inspection dates suggest periodic review rather than a single approval. Budget time for responding to review requests.
• Accessibility and elderly-friendly design are evaluated. The source records separate accessibility and elderly-friendly evaluations with self, institutional and user scores. If your China-facing site targets broad consumer audiences, design choices in these areas may attract scrutiny.

How This Fits Into Setting Up Your China Company

Entity choice and registration

Nothing in this record changes entity selection. Foreign founders typically choose between a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (WFOE), a joint venture, or a representative office, depending on whether they need to invoice, hire and earn revenue in China. The website identity record is downstream of that decision: the company must exist, with a unified social credit code and a legal representative, before domain filing and site operation can be handled properly.

Documents to prepare

Expect to assemble corporate formation documents, passport copies of directors and legal representatives, proof of registered address, and the business scope description. For the website side, keep records of who administers the domain and who is responsible for content compliance.

Capital and tax

The source contains no capital, tax rate or incentive information, so none is stated here. Registered capital, contribution timelines and tax registration should be confirmed with a qualified adviser based on your business model and location.

Licences and filings

Website operation in China can involve ICP filing for informational sites and additional licensing for commercial internet services. The record shows MIIT as the supervising authority for website identity, which is consistent with the ministry's central role in internet regulation. Confirm the specific filing and licence requirements for your site category before launch.

Practical Checklist for Founders

• Incorporate the China entity and obtain the unified social credit code before site filing.
• Decide whether your site is informational or commercial; the latter generally requires more approvals.
• Track identity certification validity (the source shows a two-year term) and diarise renewal.
• Record scheduled inspection dates and assign an owner internally.
• Build accessibility and elderly-friendly considerations into design reviews.
• Keep stamped evaluation or certification documents on file for inspections.

Bottom Line

The source is a compliance record for a government portal, not a registration manual. Its practical message for foreign founders is that China-facing websites sit inside a supervised identity and evaluation system with fixed validity periods and scheduled inspections. Treat website certification, filing and accessibility review as part of your China market entry timeline, alongside entity registration, tax setup and licensing.

Foreign founders can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp / WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535 for help registering and operating a company in China.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.