Each country has its own social environment and standards for different industries vary accordingly. In China, there are clear restrictions on the industries involved in advertising and promotion. Especially for the following 55 industries listed, Chinese laws and regulations have explicit prohibitions against promoting these industries through advertising.
01 Drug-Related Items
This category encompasses all types of illicit drugs, chemicals that can be synthesized into drugs, raw materials for drug production, and literature on drug manufacturing.
02 Gambling Prohibitions
We’re putting all bets off on gambling. It’s forbidden to use money or property as stakes in gambling, as well as providing venues, funds, tools, or facilitating gambling activities through products and services.Gambling Tools: Think slot machines and dice games—no luck here.
- Gambling Information and Software: This includes illegal gambling information, communities, software, and betting apps.
- Gambling Products: Unlawful gambling products such as Mark Six lotteries and other lottery types not approved for sale in Mainland China.
- Gambling Techniques: Ads that teach gambling tactics like card sharking and cheating methods are off the table.
- Cheating Devices: Devices like see-through glasses, card changers, and other cheating tools are strictly prohibited.
- Gambling Products: Products suspected of being gambling-related, such as “one-yuan purchase” schemes.
- Gambling on Raw Stones: The act of gambling by selling rough stones is banned.
- Others: Hotels or scenic spots that offer casino gambling services are not allowed.
03 Religious Matters
- Spreading the word about religious activities and content is a no-go zone.
- Selling religious items under the guise of religion is also prohibited.
04 Pyramid Schemes
The allure of quick riches through recruitment or by charging fees for membership is an illegal path we advise against.
05 Superstition and Fortune-Telling
Products or services for fortune-telling, divination, Feng Shui, and other superstitious practices, along with claims of improving luck or human capabilities, are banned.
06 Fraudulent Websites
- Imitating financial institutions like banks, funds, securities, and trusts is a scam that won’t stand.
- Posting job ads for fake reputation farming on online stores is also prohibited.
- Illegal sales of items like Sinopec fuel cards, Q coins, and other virtual cards, along with providing illegal phone top-up services, are forbidden.
07 Special Diseases
- No advertising is allowed for diseases that the state has paused medical advertising for: genital warts, syphilis, gonorrhea, chancroid, psoriasis, AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, hepatitis B, vitiligo, lupus.
- Professional jargon related to these diseases, such as HBV, “big three yang,” “small three yang turning negative,” and “two pairs and a half,” is also banned in advertisements.
08 Special Medications and Medical Devices
- A strict ban on narcotics, psychotropic substances, toxic medical drugs, radioactive drugs, drug-like precursor chemicals, prescription drugs, specific total nutrition formula foods for special medical purposes, infant formulas for special medical use, and drugs and medical devices for drug addiction treatment.
- Military-specific drugs and preparations made by military medical institutions.
- Medicinal preparations made by medical institutions.
- Any drugs, medical devices, health foods, and special medical formula foods that are legally stopped or banned from production, sale, or use.
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09 Medical Intermediary Services
Offering domestic registration services or overseas medical intermediary services for a fee is prohibited.
10 Cultural Relics and Literary Works
- Counterfeit commemorative coins and replicas of famous artworks are not to be advertised.
- Exempted are antique stores and auction companies with the appropriate legal qualifications.
11 Illegal Stamp Trading
Legal stamps (including common and commemorative stamps) can be exchanged and traded.The following activities are banned as per Article 25 of the “Philatelic Market Management Measures”: Trading in counterfeit or altered postage vouchers.
- Trading in stamps prohibited from circulation by the state.
- Trading in stamps issued by the Taiwan region after October 1, 1949.
- Trading in stamps without indicated issuing entity information.
- Trading in stamps with counterfeit or imitation stamp patterns not in accordance with national regulations.
- Trading in stamps with obviously false information.
- Trading in stamps imported without authorization.
- Producing or selling stamps under someone else’s name without permission.
- Any other business activities that violate relevant national regulations.
12 Circulating RMB
Without the approval of the People’s Bank of China, no unit or individual may bind or operate bound circulating RMB, including RMB of special years and misprinted RMB.
13 Bills
- Including various types of invoices, financial bills, etc.
- Including issuing and selling real and fake invoices on behalf of others.
- Except for the case of transfer for the purpose of collection without validity and circulation.
14 Fake certificate and seal services
Providing illegal services such as processing false certificates and privately engraved official seals.
15 Illegal network public relations
Illegal network water army, network promoters, flooding companies, post deletion companies, soft article marketing, e-commerce order brushing, etc.
16 Illegal network technology and equipment
- Using illegal network technology to break through network restrictions, infringe on the privacy and property of others, or disrupt the normal operation order of Internet platforms, including: “over the wall” service, “over the wall” software, game plug-ins, dual-opening software, jailbreak software, etc.
- Equipment for inserting phone cards in batches.
- Equipment and software with functions such as changing the caller number, virtual dialing, and illegal access of Internet phones to the public telecommunications network.
- Automatic switching systems for batch accounts and network addresses, platforms for batch receiving SMS verification and voice verification.
- Other equipment and software used to commit crimes such as telecommunications network fraud.
17 Illegal debt collection
Illegal provision of services or consulting content related to debt repayment, debt arrears, and debt collection.
18 Vehicle formalities agency
- Violation of traffic rules and points, agency service or content for car purchase quotas.
- Providing transaction services or information such as leasing, selling, and transferring of vehicle license plates and lottery quotas.
- Providing illegal vehicle-related services or information such as scrapping without a car, transferring ownership without a car, annual inspection without a car, and collecting points for driver’s licenses.
19 Personal business agency
- Agency for personal certificates, agency for social security payment, agency for housing provident fund payment, agency/consultation for points-based settlement, etc.
- Scalper proxy photography and proxy photography business.
20 Certificate affiliation/leasing
“Certificate affiliation”, “certificate affiliation” and any qualification certificate, administrative license, identity document leasing, lending, and transfer services, etc.
21 Foreign Recruitment
Provide jobs for foreign personnel, recruit foreign personnel, recruit foreign volunteers, etc.
22 Firearms, Ammunition and Other Weapons
- Includes various types of firearms, ammunition and related equipment, such as firearms, firearm imitations (such as imitation guns), bullets (cannons), silencers, gunpowder, instructions, packaging boxes, etc.
- Other weapons: crossbows, slingshots, steel balls, lead balls, real machines, real bullets, etc.
23 Security, police and military equipment
- Security equipment refers to security and defense equipment including but not limited to electric shocks, strong lights, tear gas, etc.
- Police and military equipment refers to police and military equipment including but not limited to police uniforms, police badges, handcuffs, police lights, sirens, stun guns, etc.
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24 Cult Organizations
Illegal organizations that endanger society, such as Falun Gong, the Church of Almighty God, Voodoo, etc.
25 Government Documents
Various certificates and documents issued by the government, such as identity cards, files, various licenses, etc.
26 Illegal Publications and Film and Television Works
Illegal books, film and television works include, but are not limited to:
- Obscene and Pornographic Materials : This includes any publications or films that are vulgar or sexually explicit, such as adult magazines, videos, and adult videos (AV).
- Materials Harmful to Social Stability : Publications or films that undermine social stability, damage national unity, or disrupt ethnic solidarity.
- Publications with Discriminatory Content : Any materials containing racial or religious discrimination or other content that violates laws and regulations.
27 Protection of Wild Flora and Fauna
- Wildlife : Under national regulations, no trade or publication is allowed for wild animals, world/national protected species, endangered animals, their organs, any body parts, fur, specimens, or any products made from them, such as ivory and tortoiseshell products.
- Wild Plants : Any plants listed in the world/national protected species list and prohibited from sale by law, or plant products.
28 Illegal Sexual Products
Such as illegal aphrodisiacs and similar products.
29 Dangerous Goods
- Flammable and Explosive Materials : Including raw materials for their production.
- Toxic and Corrosive Chemicals : Along with their raw materials.
- Fireworks and Firecrackers : And devices for setting off fireworks and firecrackers.
- Publications and Videos on Explosives : Materials that instruct on making explosives.
30 Regulated Knives
Knives that violate national controlled knife standards, such as daggers, three-edged knives (including those used for mechanical processing), switchblades with self-locking mechanisms, and other similar single-edged, double-edged, or three-edged sharp knives.
31 Illegally Obtained Goods
Goods obtained through smuggling, theft, or robbery.
32 Tobacco Products
Cigarettes, cigarette packs, cigarette labels, electronic cigarettes, and smoking cessation products.
33 Prohibited Food Items
- Betel nut and its products.
- Infant formula dairy products for babies aged 0-12 months (ie, stage 1 and stage 2).
34 Illegal Cash Advances
- Services such as agent extraction of housing provident funds, social security, and credit card cash advances.
- Cash advances using POS machines, card swiping rebates.
- Credit card cash advances and credit card repayments on behalf of others.
35 Banned Advertising and Promotion
- Crude oil and crude oil derivatives.
- POS machine sales.
- Private equity funds; private financial products.
- IoT (Internet of Things) cards.
36 Non-compliant Loan Services
Such as campus loans, student loans, down payment loans, cosmetic loans, etc.
37 Non-compliant Securities Services
- Stock recommendations, stock financing, stock leverage.
- Trading of Hong Kong and US stocks.
38 Illegal Fundraising Activities
Illegally absorbing public deposits or disguised forms of public deposits, and illegal fundraising activities with the purpose of illegal possession using fraudulent methods.
39 Non-compliant Bank Card and Account Services
Copying/cracking or recycling of bank cards, handling of bank cards through non-bank official websites, handling of bank statements, buying and selling of bank accounts (bank cards), etc.
40 Products Infringing on Intellectual Property Rights
- Trademark and Patent Infringements : Counterfeit and copycat products.
- Copyright Infringements : Unauthorized films, television shows, software programs, websites, etc.
- Private Servers and Cheats : Private servers refer to the unauthorized establishment of network servers after illegally obtaining server installation programs. Cheats refer to programs that use computer technology to alter parts of one or several online games to create cheating software.
- Other Violations: Unlawful sales of gaming equipment from other manufacturers, impersonation of official game websites, and establishment of phishing websites.
41 Tax Evasion Products
Goods that have not gone through proper import procedures, such as “grey market” products, “European water”, “Hong Kong water”, and similar items.
42 Illegal Signal Interception Products
Devices like TV sticks and signal receivers that illegally intercept television signals.
43 Products Infringing on Property Rights
- Products for electricity theft or illegal electricity saving, such as power-saving devices.
- Wi-Fi moochers, dialers, and similar devices.
- Products with unclear charges, malicious billing, hidden billing programs, or any situation that harms consumer rights, or containing malicious programs for account theft or password theft.
44 Privacy Invasion Equipment:
- Eaves dropping devices, hidden cameras, pinhole cameras, information interception (fax, SMS, phone interception), and other equipment that may violate privacy.
- Products that infringe on personal information, including but not limited to directly providing personal phone numbers, email addresses, and software or products used for collecting or stealing personal information (such as phishing websites).
- Products with tracking capabilities, such as GPS trackers.
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
45 Non-compliant Motor Vehicles and Services
- Cloned vehicles, smuggled vehicles, confiscated vehicles, illegal vehicles, unregistered vehicles, mortgaged vehicles, etc.
- “Assembled motor vehicles”, “built motor vehicles”, or related service information.
46 Products Disrupting Traffic Safety
Products like radar detectors, electronic dogs, car concealment sprays, roll-up license plate frames, radar jammers, license plate covering devices, traffic signal changers, and similar items.
47 Prohibited Education and Training
- Online advertisements for off-campus training for primary and secondary schools, kindergartens.
- Franchise services for off-campus training for primary and secondary schools, kindergartens.
48 Exam and Thesis Fraud
Impersonating test takers, ghostwriting theses, etc.
49 Non-compliant Software Tools
- Software advertised as making free calls (Note: Not instant communication tools, products that can directly make free calls without phone charges using certain means).
- Military software.
- Overseas marriage service software.
50 Political News
Political: Domestic and foreign military and political news, reactionary remarks, etc.
51 Illegal Game Agents
Merchants and regional privileged agents for special permissions in games (such as selling room cards).
52 Military Aircraft
Aircraft that directly participate in combat, support combat operations, and military training, such as fighter jets, bombers, special operations aircraft, etc.
53 Non-compliant Real Estate Business
- Types of real estate transactions: Real estate and land not normally sold or not qualified for listing, such as small property rights, account-settlement houses, land transactions, property exchange for old, mortgaged houses, etc.
- Real estate peripheral business: Beyond the normal living and use functions of real estate, emphasizing financing, investment, medical services, including real estate investment or investment lectures, financing or disguised financing content, medical services, housing for the elderly, real estate investment immigration, etc.
54 Illegal Fishing Products
Electric fishing devices, sail nets, ground cages, beach seines, net cages, dense mesh screens, towed pump suction rakes, and other fishing gear.
55 Other Illegal and Non-compliant Products and Services
- Surrogacy, drug testing, fetal gender determination services.
- Human organs, remains, animal carcasses, etc.
- Advertisements for car decoders, master keys, and other technologies that can be used for criminal activities.
- Private detectives.
- Medicated cosmetics.
- Medical waste.
- Products for reducing or limiting the speed of bicycles.
- Online part-time fraud (such as typists, data entry clerks), personal manual processing fraud (such as wormwood processing, manual beading), etc.
- Others.
Source of featured image: Photo by Adeolu Eletu on Unsplash