China: Notice on deepening governance of Internet advertising ecosystem enters into force

On 23 April 2026, the notice on deepening the governance of the internet advertising ecosystem entered into force upon publication. The notice applies to internet platform operators, advertisers, advertising operators and publishers active in China's internet advertising sector, with particular focus on live-streaming e-commerce, AI-generated advertising and data-driven targeted placement. Provincial market regulation authorities are directed to strengthen supervision of platform advertising models and to guide internet platforms in improving rules on advertising bidding rankings, paid traffic, targeted placement and internal advertising review. Internet platforms are required to develop negative lists for non-compliant advertising content and behaviour and to deploy mechanisms to pre-warn, intercept, restrict traffic to or suspend accounts publishing unlawful marketing content. Platforms and other relevant actors are required to ensure that advertising data sources are lawful and that consumer personal information is not misappropriated for advertising purposes. The notice prohibits advertising that damages national dignity, harms national sentiment, violates public morality or is detrimental to minors, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to impersonate or fabricate experts, scholars, celebrities or medical practitioners in advertisements. Reinforced enforcement is directed at advertising in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, health food products, financial products, and education and training. Authorities are instructed to develop intelligent monitoring tools, improve multimodal advertising recognition models and build cross-regional and cross-platform investigative capacity.