An ICP Filing, known in Chinese as “ICP BeiAn” and also referred to as an “ICP recordal” by some sources, is the first level of ICP certification. All applicants must apply for an ICP Filing regardless of whether their website is commercial or non-commercial in scope. After obtaining an ICP Filing, the licensee will be eligible to host their website on a China-based hosting server or CDN, but will not be able to integrate e-commerce features or online payments. As an ICP Filing does not permit the license to engage in direct online sales, the licensed website should only be used for informational purposes. An ICP Filing can take up to several months to process but Katian offers processing within 20 working days.

An ICP Commercial License, known as “ICP Zheng” in Chinese allows online platforms or third-party sellers of goods and services to deploy their website on a hosting server or CDN within Mainland China. To apply for an ICP Commercial License, you must first obtain an ICP Filing. After obtaining both an ICP Filing and ICP Commercial License the licensee is eligible to launch a website with e-commerce and online payment integration on a server or CDN based in Mainland China. An ICP Commercial License takes approximately 60 working days to process and Katian provides this service to customers.

ICP Filing requires the applicant to submit documents listed below.