Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China (Amended in 2018)
Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China (Amended in 2018)
Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China (Amended in 2018)
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.16
October 26, 2018
(Adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on October 27, 1994; and revised at the 14th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on April 24, 2015; and amended in accordance with the Decision on Amending Fifteen Laws Including the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wild Animals adopted at the Sixth Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on October 26, 2018)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Rules on Contents of Advertisements
Chapter III Regulation of Advertising Conduct
Chapter IV Supervision and Administration
Chapter V Legal Liability
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 The Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Law") is enacted with a view to regulating advertising activities, protecting the lawful rights and interests of consumers, promoting the healthy development of the advertising industry, and maintaining the socio-economic order.
Article 2 The Law applies to all commercial advertising activities for direct or indirect introduction of products or services promoted by product business operators or service providers via a certain medium and in a certain form within the territory of the People's Republic of China.
For the purpose of the Law, the term "advertiser" refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization that designs, produces, or publishes, or appoints others to design, produce, or publish an advertisement to promote his/her/its product or service.
For the purpose of the Law, the term "advertising agent" refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization that on a commission basis provides advertisement design or production service or agent service.
For the purpose of the Law, the term "advertisement publisher" refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization that publishes an advertisement for an advertiser or for an advertising agent commissioned by an advertiser.
For the purpose of the Law, the term "advertisement endorser" refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization other than an advertiser that uses his/her/its own name or image to make endorsements or testimonials for a product or service in an advertisement.
Article 3 An advertisement shall be true to facts and lawful, express the content advertised in a healthy form of representation, and comply with the requirements of socialist cultural and ideological development and the development of the good traditional culture of the Chinese nation.
Article 4 No advertisement shall contain any false or misleading information, and shall not deceive or mislead consumers.
Advertisers shall be held responsible for the authenticity of the contents of advertisements.
Article 5 Any advertiser, advertising agent, advertisement publisher shall, when engaging in advertising activities, comply with laws and administrative regulations, act in good faith, and conduct fair competition.
Article 6 The market regulation department under the State Council shall be in charge of the supervision and administration over advertisements nationwide, and the relevant authorities under the State Council shall be in charge of the advertisement management work within the scope of their respective responsibilities.
Local market regulation departments at the county level or above are in charge of the advertisement supervision and administration work within their own jurisdictions, and the relevant authorities of the people's governments at the county level or above are in charge of the advertisement management work within the scope of their own responsibilities.
Article 7 Advertising industry organizations shall, in accordance with the provisions of the laws, regulations and articles of association, formulate industry standards, strengthen self-regulation in the industry, promote the development of the advertising industry, and guide their members to engage in advertising activities in accordance with the law and promote the integrity in the advertising industry.
Chapter II Rules on Contents of Advertisements
Article 8 In any advertisement, where there are statements on the performance, function, place of origin, purpose, quality, ingredients, price, producer, valid period and guarantees of the product, or the content, provider, form, quality, price and guarantees of the service, such statements shall be accurate, clear and explicit.
In any content, where there are statements on additional presentation of gifts for the purpose of promoting the sale of products or providing services, the type, specification, quantity, time limit and form of such gifts shall be expressly indicated.
Where any law or regulation requires any content to be indicated expressly in an advertisement, such content shall be prominently and clearly indicated.
Article 9 Any advertisement shall not involve any of the following circumstances:
1. using or using in disguised form the National Flag, the National Anthem or the National Emblem, or the Army Flag, the Army Anthem or the Army Emblem of the People's Republic of China;
2. using or using in disguised form the names or images of state organs or their functionaries;
3. using "state-level", "the highest-grade", "the best" or other similar words;
4. damaging the dignity or interest of the State, or revealing state secrets;
5. hampering social stability or damaging social public interest;
6. damaging personal or property safety, or revealing personal privacy;
7. hampering the social public order or going against good social practice;
8. containing any information suggesting obscenity, pornography, gambling, superstitious, terror or violence;
9. containing any information of ethnic, racial, religious or sexual discrimination;
10. hindering the protection of the environment, natural resources or cultural heritage; or
11. falling in other circumstances as prohibited under laws and regulations.
Article 10 No advertisement shall damage the physical and mental health of minors and disabled people.
Article 11 Where administrative licensing is required to be obtained for any item involved in the content of an advertisement, such item shall conform to the content of the licensing.
Any data, statistics, research result, summary, quotation and other quoted information used in an advertisement shall be authentic and accurate, with the source indicated. If the quoted information is subject to a scope of application or a valid period, the scope of application or valid period shall be clearly indicated.
Article 12 Where any advertisement involves any patented product or patented process, the patent number and patent category shall be indicated.
Where a patent right has not been obtained, an advertiser shall not give false information in an advertisement that the patent right has been obtained.
It is prohibited to use any unapproved patent application or terminated, nullified or invalid patent in an advertisement.
(Relevant articles: Articles 1)
Article 13 No advertisement shall contain any information that belittles the products or services of other producers and operators.
Article 14 An advertisement shall be readily identifiable and shall enable consumers to identify it as such.
No mass media of communication shall publish an advertisement in disguise in the form of a news report. Any advertisement published via the mass media of communication shall be marked conspicuously as "advertisement" so as to distinguish it from other non-advertisement information and avoid misleading consumers.
Radio stations and TV stations shall, when publishing advertisements, comply with the provisions of the relevant authorities under the State Council on the length of time and means of publishing, and provide clear indications on the length of time of advertisements.
Article 15 No advertisement may be made concerning narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs, toxic drugs for medical use, radioactive drugs or other specific drugs, pharmaceutical precursor chemicals, as well as drug addiction treatment medicines, medical devices and treatment methods.
For prescription medicines other than those as set out in the preceding paragraph, advertisements many be made only on the medical or pharmaceutical journals as jointly designated by the public health administrative authority and the drug administration under the State Council.
Article 16 Any advertisement for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals or medical devices shall not contain the following items:
1. any assertion or guarantee for efficacy and safety;
2. any statement on cure rate or effective rate;
3. comparison with the efficacy and safety of other pharmaceuticals or medical devices or with other medical institutions;
4. use of the advertisement endorsers to make endorsements or testimonials; or
5. other items as prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.
Contents of advertisements for pharmaceuticals must be consistent with those indicated on the instructions approved by the drug administration under the State Council, and contraindications and adverse reactions shall be marked conspicuously. Any advertisement for prescription medicines shall indicate the words "the advertisement is intended for medical and pharmaceutical professionals only" conspicuously, and any advertisement for non-prescription drugs shall indicate the words "please follow the instructions or purchase and use the medicine according to a pharmacist's suggestions" conspicuously.
Any advertisement for medical devices intended for personal use shall indicate the words "please read the product specifications carefully or purchase and use the product according to the suggestions of medical personnel" conspicuously. If any registered certificate of a medical device product contains any contraindication and precaution, the advertisement for the product shall indicate the words "for the contraindication and precaution, please refer to the specifications" conspicuously.
Article 17 Except for advertisements for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and medical treatment, no other advertisement shall concern disease treatment function, or use medical wordings or wordings that are easy to cause confusion between the products promoted and pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
(Relevant articles: Articles 1)
Article 18 Advertisements for healthcare food shall not contain any of the following items:
1.
......
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.16
October 26, 2018
(Adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on October 27, 1994; and revised at the 14th Session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on April 24, 2015; and amended in accordance with the Decision on Amending Fifteen Laws Including the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wild Animals adopted at the Sixth Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on October 26, 2018)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Rules on Contents of Advertisements
Chapter III Regulation of Advertising Conduct
Chapter IV Supervision and Administration
Chapter V Legal Liability
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 The Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the "Law") is enacted with a view to regulating advertising activities, protecting the lawful rights and interests of consumers, promoting the healthy development of the advertising industry, and maintaining the socio-economic order.
Article 2 The Law applies to all commercial advertising activities for direct or indirect introduction of products or services promoted by product business operators or service providers via a certain medium and in a certain form within the territory of the People's Republic of China.
For the purpose of the Law, the term "advertiser" refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization that designs, produces, or publishes, or appoints others to design, produce, or publish an advertisement to promote his/her/its product or service.
For the purpose of the Law, the term "advertising agent" refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization that on a commission basis provides advertisement design or production service or agent service.
For the purpose of the Law, the term "advertisement publisher" refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization that publishes an advertisement for an advertiser or for an advertising agent commissioned by an advertiser.
For the purpose of the Law, the term "advertisement endorser" refers to any natural person, legal person or other organization other than an advertiser that uses his/her/its own name or image to make endorsements or testimonials for a product or service in an advertisement.
Article 3 An advertisement shall be true to facts and lawful, express the content advertised in a healthy form of representation, and comply with the requirements of socialist cultural and ideological development and the development of the good traditional culture of the Chinese nation.
Article 4 No advertisement shall contain any false or misleading information, and shall not deceive or mislead consumers.
Advertisers shall be held responsible for the authenticity of the contents of advertisements.
Article 5 Any advertiser, advertising agent, advertisement publisher shall, when engaging in advertising activities, comply with laws and administrative regulations, act in good faith, and conduct fair competition.
Article 6 The market regulation department under the State Council shall be in charge of the supervision and administration over advertisements nationwide, and the relevant authorities under the State Council shall be in charge of the advertisement management work within the scope of their respective responsibilities.
Local market regulation departments at the county level or above are in charge of the advertisement supervision and administration work within their own jurisdictions, and the relevant authorities of the people's governments at the county level or above are in charge of the advertisement management work within the scope of their own responsibilities.
Article 7 Advertising industry organizations shall, in accordance with the provisions of the laws, regulations and articles of association, formulate industry standards, strengthen self-regulation in the industry, promote the development of the advertising industry, and guide their members to engage in advertising activities in accordance with the law and promote the integrity in the advertising industry.
Chapter II Rules on Contents of Advertisements
Article 8 In any advertisement, where there are statements on the performance, function, place of origin, purpose, quality, ingredients, price, producer, valid period and guarantees of the product, or the content, provider, form, quality, price and guarantees of the service, such statements shall be accurate, clear and explicit.
In any content, where there are statements on additional presentation of gifts for the purpose of promoting the sale of products or providing services, the type, specification, quantity, time limit and form of such gifts shall be expressly indicated.
Where any law or regulation requires any content to be indicated expressly in an advertisement, such content shall be prominently and clearly indicated.
Article 9 Any advertisement shall not involve any of the following circumstances:
1. using or using in disguised form the National Flag, the National Anthem or the National Emblem, or the Army Flag, the Army Anthem or the Army Emblem of the People's Republic of China;
2. using or using in disguised form the names or images of state organs or their functionaries;
3. using "state-level", "the highest-grade", "the best" or other similar words;
4. damaging the dignity or interest of the State, or revealing state secrets;
5. hampering social stability or damaging social public interest;
6. damaging personal or property safety, or revealing personal privacy;
7. hampering the social public order or going against good social practice;
8. containing any information suggesting obscenity, pornography, gambling, superstitious, terror or violence;
9. containing any information of ethnic, racial, religious or sexual discrimination;
10. hindering the protection of the environment, natural resources or cultural heritage; or
11. falling in other circumstances as prohibited under laws and regulations.
Article 10 No advertisement shall damage the physical and mental health of minors and disabled people.
Article 11 Where administrative licensing is required to be obtained for any item involved in the content of an advertisement, such item shall conform to the content of the licensing.
Any data, statistics, research result, summary, quotation and other quoted information used in an advertisement shall be authentic and accurate, with the source indicated. If the quoted information is subject to a scope of application or a valid period, the scope of application or valid period shall be clearly indicated.
Article 12 Where any advertisement involves any patented product or patented process, the patent number and patent category shall be indicated.
Where a patent right has not been obtained, an advertiser shall not give false information in an advertisement that the patent right has been obtained.
It is prohibited to use any unapproved patent application or terminated, nullified or invalid patent in an advertisement.
(Relevant articles: Articles 1)
Article 13 No advertisement shall contain any information that belittles the products or services of other producers and operators.
Article 14 An advertisement shall be readily identifiable and shall enable consumers to identify it as such.
No mass media of communication shall publish an advertisement in disguise in the form of a news report. Any advertisement published via the mass media of communication shall be marked conspicuously as "advertisement" so as to distinguish it from other non-advertisement information and avoid misleading consumers.
Radio stations and TV stations shall, when publishing advertisements, comply with the provisions of the relevant authorities under the State Council on the length of time and means of publishing, and provide clear indications on the length of time of advertisements.
Article 15 No advertisement may be made concerning narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs, toxic drugs for medical use, radioactive drugs or other specific drugs, pharmaceutical precursor chemicals, as well as drug addiction treatment medicines, medical devices and treatment methods.
For prescription medicines other than those as set out in the preceding paragraph, advertisements many be made only on the medical or pharmaceutical journals as jointly designated by the public health administrative authority and the drug administration under the State Council.
Article 16 Any advertisement for medical treatment, pharmaceuticals or medical devices shall not contain the following items:
1. any assertion or guarantee for efficacy and safety;
2. any statement on cure rate or effective rate;
3. comparison with the efficacy and safety of other pharmaceuticals or medical devices or with other medical institutions;
4. use of the advertisement endorsers to make endorsements or testimonials; or
5. other items as prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.
Contents of advertisements for pharmaceuticals must be consistent with those indicated on the instructions approved by the drug administration under the State Council, and contraindications and adverse reactions shall be marked conspicuously. Any advertisement for prescription medicines shall indicate the words "the advertisement is intended for medical and pharmaceutical professionals only" conspicuously, and any advertisement for non-prescription drugs shall indicate the words "please follow the instructions or purchase and use the medicine according to a pharmacist's suggestions" conspicuously.
Any advertisement for medical devices intended for personal use shall indicate the words "please read the product specifications carefully or purchase and use the product according to the suggestions of medical personnel" conspicuously. If any registered certificate of a medical device product contains any contraindication and precaution, the advertisement for the product shall indicate the words "for the contraindication and precaution, please refer to the specifications" conspicuously.
Article 17 Except for advertisements for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and medical treatment, no other advertisement shall concern disease treatment function, or use medical wordings or wordings that are easy to cause confusion between the products promoted and pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
(Relevant articles: Articles 1)
Article 18 Advertisements for healthcare food shall not contain any of the following items:
1.
......