China: Announced request to unblock external URLs to ensure interoperability of services

On 13 September 2021, a spokesman of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that internet services may not block legally accessible external URLs. The announcement aims to raise interconnectivity of the internet, facilitating the user experience on the internet and thus, ensuring there is no market distortion. Consumers should not be limited when it comes to switching between services of rival companies seeing as it violates the rights and interests of users to block external URLs. Among others, the access to different payment providers on internet platforms may also be subject to the ministry's request to unblock external links.