Published by ChinaMNC · Yajiang

China Website Identity Marks: What Foreign Founders Should Know About Website Certification and Evaluation

A practical guide for foreign founders on China's website identity mark system, using the Sichuan Provincial Government portal's certification record to explain certification periods, evaluation scores and scheduled inspections.

Website Identity Marks: A Practical Guide for Foreign Founders

Foreign founders building a digital presence in China will encounter a system of website identity marks (标识) and evaluation records that Chinese government bodies use to document the quality and compliance of their official sites. A recent record published for the Sichuan Provincial Government portal offers a concrete example of how this system works in practice. Understanding its structure helps foreign founders interpret similar records they may see on Chinese websites and plan their own online operations accordingly.

Who Is Behind the Identity Mark System

The source record identifies the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部) as the supervising authority for identity management, with the Internet Society of China (中国互联网协会) named as the issuing body. This division of roles is worth noting for founders: the mark is not issued by the website operator itself but by an industry body under the oversight of a central ministry. When you see an identity mark on a Chinese website, it reflects a certification process administered within this framework.

The Example: Sichuan Provincial Government Portal

The record concerns the official website of the Sichuan Provincial People's Government. The institution is listed as the General Office of the Sichuan Provincial People's Government, with an institutional type of Party and government organ, and the site address is www.sc.gov.cn. An electronic identity mark number, DZJG20260100003479PW, is recorded. The site operates both a PC version and a WAP (mobile) version, each with its own evaluation results.

Certification Validity Periods

Both the PC website identity certification and the WAP website identity certification carry a validity period of two years, running from 27 January 2026 to 26 January 2028. The certificate certification follows the same two-year validity window. For foreign founders, the practical takeaway is that these marks are time-limited and require renewal — a website's certification status should be checked against its current validity dates rather than assumed permanent.

How the Evaluation Scores Are Structured

The record breaks evaluation down into several categories, and the structure is more instructive than any single number.

• Accessibility for older users (适老化评价): Scored separately by self-assessment, institutional assessment and user assessment. For the PC site, the scores were 100, 82 and 83 respectively; for the WAP site, 100, 82 and 81.
• Barrier-free accessibility (无障碍评价): Also scored across the same three perspectives. PC scores were 100, 83 and 83; WAP scores were 100, 80 and 82.
• Performance index (效能指数): Measured on three dimensions — comprehensiveness, reliability and robustness — each recorded at 100% for both the PC and WAP sites.
• Overall evaluation score: 86.2 for the PC website and 85.4 for the WAP website.

Two features stand out. First, self-assessment scores are consistently higher than institutional and user assessments, which suggests the framework deliberately separates an operator's own view from external review. Second, the same site can receive different scores on different platforms, so PC and mobile performance are treated as distinct.

Scheduled Inspections

The record includes a regular inspection (定期巡检) schedule with dates of 26 July 2026, 26 January 2027 and 26 July 2027. The inspection result is listed as passed (通过). This indicates that certification is not a one-off event: holders are subject to periodic checks during the validity period. Founders should expect that maintaining a certified status involves ongoing review, not just an initial application.

Supporting Documentation

A certificate download is referenced in the record: an evaluation report on accessibility for older users and barrier-free access for the Sichuan Provincial Government portal website, in a sealed version (用印版) PDF. This shows that the evaluation process produces formal documentation that can be retrieved and reviewed.

What This Means for Foreign Founders

This record is specific to a government portal, and the source does not state how the same framework applies to commercial websites or to companies with foreign investment. Founders should therefore treat it as an illustration of how Chinese website oversight is documented, not as a direct description of requirements for their own sites.

Several practical points follow from the record itself:

• Website marks and certificates in China carry defined validity periods — in this case two years — and should be tracked for renewal.
• Evaluation frameworks distinguish self-assessment from institutional and user assessment, so external review carries weight.
• Mobile (WAP) and desktop (PC) versions are evaluated separately, meaning a strong desktop site does not guarantee strong mobile results.
• Scheduled inspections occur during the validity period, so compliance is continuous rather than a single approval.

For founders setting up a company in China and launching a website, the sensible approach is to confirm with local advisers which identity mark and filing obligations apply to a commercial site, what the current validity terms are, and how evaluations are conducted. The Sichuan record provides a template for the kinds of information — issuing authority, validity dates, evaluation categories, inspection schedule — that founders should expect to see and maintain.

Next Steps

Foreign founders who want to understand how website certification, identity marks and related filing obligations apply to their China operations can seek local guidance before launch. ChinaMNC works with foreign founders on company registration and ongoing operations in China. For assistance, contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp or WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.