Before launching a website or App, complete ICP filing; keep logs for 6 months or more under multilevel protection requirements

Filing costs nothing; domestic servers without filing that refuse to correct will be shut down. Claiming filing is free while actually charging brings a fine of 3 to 5 times illegal gains, or 100000 to 1000000 yuan. Logs must be kept for a full 6 months; refusal to correct or causing consequences brings a fine of 10000 to 100000 yuan

Cost

Filing is free; use the cloud provider’s process — in the author’s experience a few days to a few weeks. Multilevel protection assessment is charged by level. Multilevel protection, or dengbao for short, is a set of national security-management actions that grade systems by importance and require websites and systems to meet them

Benefit

Commercial internet information services require a license; non-commercial ones require filing. Without a license or filing, you may not operate. Without filing, telecom authorities order correction; refusal brings an order to close the site. Operating without a license brings confiscation of illegal gains plus a fine of 3 to 5 times those gains, or a fine of 100000 to 1000000 yuan. Not displaying the filing number on the homepage brings a fine of 5000 to 50000 yuan. Network operators must, under the multilevel protection system (dengbao), set security management rules, defend against attacks, retain network logs for no less than 6 months, and classify, back up, and encrypt data. Failure brings orders to correct and warnings. Refusal to correct or causing consequences brings a fine of 10000 to 100000 yuan, and persons in charge 5000 to 50000 yuan (nationwide)

Notes

Without filing, access providers must not connect domestic servers for you. How to file, how much the fine is for not posting the filing number, and how to check whether a provider is licensed are in Section 26, item 4 (servers in China need filing). The real traps are two: filing as personal non-commercial while actually charging; and changing domain or entity without updating the filing. The author’s view is that keeping logs for 6 months is both a duty and self-protection — when something happens you can show it was not you. Apps and mini programs also need filing before listing; the method is in the same item.

Sources · 2

1. 国务院 (2011). 互联网信息服务管理办法（2011 年修订，第四、十九、二十二条）. gov.cn/gongbao/content/2011/content_1860864.htm
2. 全国人大常委会 (2025). 网络安全法（2025 年修正，2026 年 1 月 1 日施行，第二十三、六十一条；2016 年文本为第二十一、五十九条）. cac.gov.cn/2025-12/29/c_1768735112911946.htm