ICP 备案 is filing that you operate an internet information service — it is not permission to run a licensed telecom business.
Most public websites and many apps hosted in China need ICP filing (非经营性互联网信息服务备案) via MIIT systems, usually through the host. Filing is not an ICP ‘licence’ to commercialise telecom-catalogue activities and not a VATS licence. Foreign-invested entities face sponsor/host and content constraints. The live ICP filing guide owns process depth; the ICP/VATS telecom flagship owns the catalogue map. This wiki is the atomic filing definition. ICP licence and VATS pages are the ‘do we need more?’ siblings.
4 questions before you choose the route.
This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.
Hosted in China with a public site/app?
Trigger.
HostOnly filing, or catalogue telecom activity?
Split.
LaneWho is the filing subject?
Entity/sponsor.
WhoLive filing guide opened?
Deep twin.
DeepWorking rule: Map the regulated role before marketing or launch in China.
The signal ledger.
These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.
Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.
Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.
Questions people ask before they build.
Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.
Is ICP filing the same as ICP licence?
No. Filing is 备案. Commercial/licensed activities are a different stack — see /icp-licence-in-china and /vats-licence-in-china.
Where is the deep filing guide?
Keep /china-icp-filing-guide.
Primary authorities
Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.