Do I Need a License to Sell Online in China? The Legal Requirements

The legal requirements for selling online in China depend on where you sell from. A foreign company selling cross-border to Chinese consumers needs no Chinese license. A business selling from inside China must register, hold the permits its products require, file its China-hosted website (ICP filing), and add an EDI license only to run a marketplace for other sellers.

China is a large consumer market, and selling there online follows specific rules. This article covers the legal side: the licenses and permits you may need, case by case. For the marketing side, read our strategies to attract Chinese buyers.

Which Legal Requirements Apply to Your Business?

It depends on your model. A foreign brand can start without any license in China: it can sell to China without a Chinese entity through cross-border e-commerce. The table sums up the four common cases:

Your situation	Company in China	Website permit	Other requirements
You sell cross-border from abroad	Not needed; for retail imports, an agent registered in China handles customs	None for a site hosted outside mainland China, without a CDN in China	Official list of goods, buyer limits, data sent to customs
You sell your own products online from China	Needed: business registration	ICP filing for a site hosted in mainland China	Permits for your products, license shown on your homepage
You run a marketplace for other sellers	Needed	EDI license	Duties of platforms under the E-commerce Law
You sell paid online information services	Needed	Commercial ICP license	Foreign ownership capped at 50%, except in pilot areas

The sections below explain each requirement.

Do You Need an ICP License or an ICP Filing?

China’s Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services (State Council Order No. 292) split online services in two. Commercial services, which provide information or web page services to users for a fee, need a license. Non-commercial services need a filing. Without the license or the filing, a website cannot provide internet information services in China.

So there are two permits:

• The commercial ICP license, for paid online information services.
• The ICP filing, for the other websites that operate in China, including most brand and e-commerce sites.

For an online store, the MIIT’s communications administration in Qinghai answers the question in its FAQ on telecom licenses and ICP filings. A company that sells its own goods online is extending its sales channels, not running a telecom business: it needs no telecom license, only the website filing, and the site should not sell paid advertising. The same FAQ adds that an e-commerce site with servers abroad needs a filing if it uses a CDN inside China, and that an e-commerce site aimed specifically at users in China should have its servers there.

The filing concerns China-based websites, whether you build your China e-commerce website or a simple brand site. Our complete guide to the ICP license explains the filing and both licenses step by step.

Foreign-invested companies can hold value-added telecom licenses, within limits. The 2024 negative list for foreign investment caps foreign ownership at 50% for these services, except e-commerce and a few others. In April 2024, the MIIT opened a pilot in parts of Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan and Shenzhen that lifts the cap for several services, including information release platforms. Before choosing a structure, compare the different kinds of Chinese companies.

When Do You Need an EDI License?

The EDI license covers online data processing and transaction processing, category B21 of the MIIT’s 2015 Telecom Business Classification Catalog: platforms that process data and transactions for their users. When the MIIT opened this service to 100% foreign ownership nationwide in June 2015, it described it as commercial e-commerce.

In practice, the EDI license concerns platforms where other merchants sell, such as marketplaces. A brand that sells only its own products on its own website is, in the MIIT Qinghai FAQ’s words, extending its sales channels: the ICP filing is enough.

Which Business License and Permits Do You Need?

For a business based in China, the E-commerce Law, in force since January 1, 2019, sets the base:

• Register your business (Article 10). The exceptions cover individuals selling their own farm products or homemade crafts, offering small services that need no permit, or making occasional low-value sales.
• Hold the administrative permits your activity requires (Article 12). Some products and services need a specific permit before they can be sold.
• Display your business license and permits at a prominent place on your homepage (Article 15).
• Pay your taxes (Article 11) and issue invoices, paper or electronic (Article 14).
• Sell only products that meet safety and environmental requirements, and none that the law prohibits (Article 13).

Products that may be sensitive for the Chinese authorities need extra care: check the local rules before you sell. A third-party quality control inspection can check that your products meet the requirements before they ship.

Do You Need a License to Sell Cross-Border to China?

No Chinese license is needed to sell to Chinese consumers from abroad. You have three options:

1. A cross-border marketplace such as Tmall Global or JD Worldwide. Each platform sets its own requirements for sellers, and they are not always the same.
2. Your own cross-border website or WeChat Mini Program, with payment in RMB and settlement in your currency. You manage customs clearance and import taxes through your partners.
3. A service provider in China, registered locally, which handles declaration, payment, logistics or warehousing for you.

For retail imports, the overseas seller appoints a company registered in China, which registers with customs and shares civil liability, under a 2018 notice of the Ministry of Commerce and five other departments. The goods must be on the official list, and they are supervised as personal items, without the first-import licenses, registrations or filings that some products require.

Whether you need a local company at all is covered in our article on selling in China without a Chinese company.

What Should You Do Next?

There is no single answer: the licenses depend on your products, your channel and where your business is registered. Decide first whether you sell from abroad or from China, then list the permits your products need.

For a launch from abroad, our cross-border e-commerce services for China set up the store, the payment in RMB and the connection with your logistics partners. For an ICP filing or a local setup, see our ICP license and China hosting consulting. If you have a specific question, contact us.

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