China’s cyberspace regulator on Wednesday released the names of the first batch of mobile app stores that have completed filing corporate data with regulators, signaling the company has started enforcing new rules expanding oversight of mobile apps.
According to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), a total of 26 app stores from companies such as Tencent, Huawei, Ant Group, Baidu, Xiaomi and Samsung have filed reports with the authority.
Apple’s App Store is not among the app stores on the list. Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Beijing has expanded surveillance of the use of smartphones and mobile apps in recent years. The country now requires mobile app stores and mobile apps to provide company data to the government.
These rules are causing consternation in the industry as publishing apps in the world’s second-largest economy will become very difficult and many apps may need to be removed.
Beijing’s push to tighten controls on apps came into focus when the CAC issued a new rule in June last year requiring app stores to submit company data and said it would hold app stores responsible if apps contained illegal content .
In August this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued another notice requiring mobile apps to complete the application by the end of March.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that app stores from Tencent and Huawei, among others, have started requiring apps in their app stores to comply with the new rules.
Apple has not disclosed how its app store in China will comply with Beijing’s new rules. Experts say Apple’s compliance could result in tens of thousands of apps being removed from Apple’s App Store in China.
© Thomson Reuters 2023