REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File PhotoHONG KONG, Aug 9 (Reuters) - China will require all mobile app providers in the country to file business details with the government, its information ministry said, marking Beijing's latest effort to keep the industry on a tight leash.
The new rule is primarily aimed at combating online fraud but it will impact on all apps in China, he said.
Bishop said that in order to comply with the new rules, app developers now must either have a company in China or work with a local publisher.
Use of such apps are not allowed in China, but they can be still downloaded from app stores, enabling Chinese to use them when traveling overseas.
China already requires mobile games to obtain licences before they launch in the country and it had purged tens of thousands of unlicenced games from various app stores in 2020.
Persons:
Thomas Peter, HONG KONG, ,, Rich Bishop, AppInChina, Bishop, Josh Ye, Miyoung Kim, Kim Coghill
Organizations:
REUTERS, Ministry of Industry, Information Technology, Apple, Facebook, Thomson
Locations:
Beijing, China, HONG, Shanghai