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Advertisement Law of the People's Republic of China (as amended on September 1, 2015), China

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Latest Version in WIPO Lex
Year of Version 2015 Dates Entry into force: September 1, 2015 Adopted: April 24, 2015 Type of Text IP-related Laws   Subject Matter Patents (Inventions), Trademarks, Competition, Undisclosed Information (Trade Secrets) Subject Matter (secondary) Other Notes The Advertisement Law of the People's Republic of China of October 27, 1994, was amended and revised for the first time by the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress on April 24, 2015, since its adoption on October 27, 1994.
It was promulgated by the Order No. 22 of the President of the People's Republic of China and came into force on September 1, 2015.

The revised Law is divided into 6 chapters and 75 articles:
-Chapter I “General Provisions” (Articles 1-7);
-Chapter II “Advertising Content Guidelines” (Articles 8-28);
-Chapter III “Advertising Code of Practice” (Articles 29-45);
-Chapter IV “Supervision and Administration of Advertisements” (Articles 46-54);
-Chapter V “Legal Responsibility” (Articles 55-73);
-Chapter VI “Supplementary Provisions” (Article 74-75).

The revised Law brings the following significant changes to the regulatory regime for advertising activities in China:
(i)establishing strict regulations of the scope and content of advertisements relating to the expansion of definition of “advertisements” and “advertisers”, the restrictions on advertising to children (Articles 20, 38-40) and the stringent controls over the advertising of specific products and services, e.g. healthcare and tobacco (Articles 16, 18, 22 and 26);
(ii) providing specific measures to deal with false advertising (Articles 28, 56 and 60);
(iii) tightening rules for methods of advertising (Articles 38, 43 to 45); and
(iv) increasing the penalties for illegal advertisements and the authorities’ powers of enforcement (Articles 7 and 55).

The revised Law contains provisions relating to the prohibition of the use of the National Flag or the National Emblem of the People’s Republic of China for advertising (Article 9(1)); the prohibition of the use of tobacco trademarks and brand names in the advertising of other products and services (new Article 22); the duty not to disclose trade secrets of the employees of the Industry and Commerce Administration Department and
relevant departments (new Article 52); the patent marking requirements in an advertisement (Article 12) and penalties for violation of these requirements (new Article 59(3)); and the civil liability imposed upon advertisers, advertising agents or advertisement publishers who pass off a patent of another person as their own (Article 69(2)).


Available Texts Main text(s) Main text(s) Chinese 中华人民共和国广告法 (经修订的2015年9月1日) PDF HTML English Advertisement Law of the People's Republic of China (as amended on September 1, 2015) PDF HTML
Related Legislation Supersedes (1 text(s)) Supersedes (1 text(s))
Advertisement Law of the People's Republic of China(CN101)
Is implemented by (1 text(s)) Is implemented by (1 text(s))
Regulations of January 31, 2007, on Administering Commercial Franchises (promulgated by the Order No. 485 of the State Council of People's Republic of China) (CN331)


WIPO Lex No. CN393