Service 03 · APP filing
APP备案 for Chinese app stores
Apple will not accept a new app or an update for the China App Store without an APP备案 number. Neither will Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo or Tencent MyApp. Here are the four pieces of information the filing needs, and the one prerequisite that stalls most first submissions.
App filing is not the same as website filing
A website filing identifies a domain. An app filing identifies a build. MIIT records the package name and the signing certificate of the exact binary you ship, which is why the numbers have to be copied from your build settings rather than typed from memory.
The two filings also live in different places. Website filings show up in your footer. App filings show up in the store listing and in the MIIT app database, and the stores query that database directly.
Who needs one
| Situation | Filing required |
|---|---|
| iOS app live or updating in the China App Store | Yes. Apple blocks submission without a filing number. |
| Android app on Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Tencent MyApp | Yes. Each store verifies separately. |
| WeChat or Alipay mini program with a mainland backend | Yes. The platform requires it at review. |
| App distributed only outside mainland China | No filing. |
| App in the China App Store but backend hosted overseas | Still yes. Hosting location does not exempt an app listed in China. |
Note the last row. It is the one that catches teams who moved their servers to Singapore to skip Chinese paperwork. Apple’s requirement follows the storefront, not the server.
The four things we need
- App name, in English and in Chinese. The Chinese name is what appears in the filing. Pick it once. Changing it later means a new filing.
- Package name or Bundle ID. For Android, the applicationId. For iOS, the bundle identifier. It must match the binary exactly, character for character.
- App public key (公钥). Exported from the signing certificate used to build the release version.
- MD5 signature value (MD5 签名值). The fingerprint of that same certificate. Android developers can pull it with
keytool -list -vor from the Play Console; iOS developers get it from the distribution certificate.
If you use a third party to build or sign the app, ask them for the release certificate, not the debug one. A filing submitted with debug values passes the form and fails the review.
The prerequisite that stalls first submissions
The domain your app calls has to hold an ICP filing under the same entity as the app filing. No filed domain means no app filing, even if the four items above are perfect.
For most teams this means two filings in sequence: the API domain first, then the app. They can sometimes be submitted together through the same provider, which saves about a week. If your backend sits on an overseas server, we host a small proxy domain in mainland China under our entity or yours to satisfy this, and point the app at it.
Timeline
Three weeks from a complete submission to an issued number. The provincial review window is up to 20 working days and cannot be expedited. Add one week if the API domain still needs its own filing.
Apple usually reflects a new filing in its system within 24 to 48 hours of the number appearing in the MIIT database. Plan your release date after that gap, not before.
What gets rejected
- Package name or signing values do not match the submitted build. The most common failure by a wide margin.
- App name contains restricted words. 中国, 中华, 国家, 银行, 支付, 新闻 and similar terms require extra approval or get refused outright.
- App is not downloadable during review. Reviewers install it. A TestFlight build, a geo-block or a login wall fails the check.
- Category does not match content. Filing as a utility app while shipping a marketplace.
- Domain in the app is not filed under the same entity. See the prerequisite above.
- Missing a matching website. A one page corporate site on the same entity is normally enough, but it has to exist and load.
Categories we do not file
Games need an ISBN from the National Press and Publication Administration before any store will list them, and that is a separate year-long process. Finance, payments and lending need a licence from the regulator. Social, live streaming and short video need a content licence plus real-name systems. We do not take those, because we cannot finish them.
We do file utilities, productivity, e-commerce, education, health tracking, B2B tools, SaaS front ends and general corporate apps.
Common questions
Do I need a Chinese company for an app filing?
The filing entity has to be registered in mainland China. That can be your own WFOE, branch or representative office, or a partner entity under a written hosting agreement. See the ICP filing page for how the three compare.
My app is already live in the China App Store. Is it at risk?
Apple has been enforcing this on updates, so the next release is where it surfaces. Filing now is the same three weeks as filing earlier. Filing after a rejected submission adds a week of back and forth.
Can one filing cover both iOS and Android?
No. Each package name and signing certificate gets its own filing. Two platforms means two filings, submitted in parallel.
Does a mini program need this?
Yes, if it has a mainland backend. WeChat and Alipay both check for a filing during review.
What if I rename the app?
It becomes a change filing, one to two weeks, billed separately. The package name can stay the same. Decide the Chinese name before we submit.
Before you send signing values. Public keys and MD5 values are not secrets in the way a private key is, but they do identify your build. Send them through a link rather than plain email if your security policy requires it, and rotate the signing certificate after a contractor engagement ends, not before a filing.
If it will not, you will hear that in the first reply rather than three weeks later.