China: State Administration for Market Regulation issued notice on deepening governance of Internet advertising ecosystem

On 15 April 2026, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued a notice on deepening the governance of the Internet advertising ecosystem. It applies to internet platform companies, advertisers, and publishers across China's internet advertising sector, including in live-streaming e-commerce, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated advertising, and data-driven targeted placement. The notice requires internet platforms to improve rules on advertising bidding rankings, paid traffic, targeted placement, and internal advertising review, and to develop negative lists for non-compliant advertising content and behaviour. The parties are also required to ensure advertising data sources are lawful and that personal information is not stolen or misused for advertising purposes. It also provides that advertising that damages national dignity, harms national sentiment, violates public morality, or is detrimental to minors, and the use of AI to impersonate or fabricate experts, scholars, celebrities, or medical practitioners in advertisements is prohibited. Stricter supervision is directed at advertising in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health foods, financial products, and education and training. Authorities are further directed to invest in intelligent monitoring tools, improve multimodal advertising recognition models, and develop cross-regional and cross-platform investigative capabilities.