What is ICP?
ICP stands for Internet Content Provider. It is a license that issued by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It is a number start with abbreviations of province, plus 8 digital numbers. We can find this number throough MIIT’s official website: www.miitbeian.gov.cn
Types of ICP:
- ICP beian: It is for all websites hosted in China.
- ICP certificate: It is for who want to use website to collecting payment.
Most of the websites need type 1 ICP only. Registering ICP normally takes 20 working days. There are many document would be required. And it is open for China native only. Never mind, we have a full solution for all websites. All the document would be provided by us in Chinese.
All of our clients are using ICP beian with no problems. jd.com and yhd.com are famous eCommerce websites in China. However, none of them have ICP certificate, all of them have only registered ICP beian only (京ICP备11041704号-3, 沪ICP备14050023号-1). Only taobao.com has registered ICP certificate: 浙b2-20080224-1. You could register ICP 证 in future if needed. You could have one 备, and one 证. There is no conflict. At this moment, i couldn’t see any difference between 备 and 证.
Why need ICP?
- It is better for SEO.
- It is required if you want to join any local affiliate.
- It is required if you want to host the website in China.
According to China “Legislation Law” and “Ordinance on the Archivist Filing of Regulations and Government Rules”. If you want to host your website in China, you have to register ICP for your domain name first. Without ICP you can’t point a domain to a Chinese IP address. The DNS can’t be successful. An website without ICP will be blocked for users visiting from Chinese IP address sometimes. It is how Chinese government prevent illegal business activities and illegal content. To avoid China native spreading of unhealthy information.
A website hosted outside of China has too many limitations, It is just like a foreigner in China has too many limitation. ICP is like an identity card for your website. It is a must have if you want to expend your e-business to China. If you consider your Chinese visitors serously, contact us and registering ICP for your domain now.