How do I successfully complete the SMS verification for an ICP application?

After you have prepared all documents for the application or the update of an ICP licence and have submitted them via your provider in China, they will be checked for completeness in a first review by the responsible clerk of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Since September 2020, if all documents have been submitted, an SMS verification needs to be completed. This verification is triggered by the clerk of the MIIT.

As part of the SMS verification, both the person responsible for the website and the legal representative receive an SMS with a verification code on their respective Chinese mobile number. As these persons may not speak Chinese and both the SMS and the MIIT website are only available in Chinese, we have prepared a detailed description of the process below to help you successfully complete the SMS verification.

The SMS verification ensures that the mobile numbers provided as part of the ICP application for the legal representative and the person responsible for the website are correct, and at the same time no unauthorized party can make adjustments to the ICP license. Which persons receive an SMS as part of the SMS verification depends on the type of ICP application. Generally speaking, the following applies to the different types:

• New application (新增备案): If you do not have an ICP license yet, both the legal representative and the person responsible for the website will receive an SMS.
• Add domain (新增网站): If you already have an ICP license and want to add another domain to it, the person responsible for the new website must complete the verification.
• Add provider (新增接入): If you already have an ICP license for the desired domain and would like to operate another website with a different provider under the same domain, the SMS verification must be carried out by the person responsible for the website in your existing ICP license.
• Change record (变更网站): If you want to update information in your existing ICP license, the SMS verification must be carried out by the legal representative and the person responsible for the website. If your ICP license covers several websites, the person responsible for each website must carry out the SMS verification. If one person is responsible for several websites, they only receive one SMS.

Ultimately, however, the clerk decides which mobile numbers need to be verified. Therefore, there may sometimes be slight deviations from the guidelines.

Once the clerk initiates the verification process, the corresponding mobile numbers usually receive an SMS within a few minutes. The SMS is sent throughout China from the official mobile number 12381. This SMS contains a code which is valid for 24 hours. The picture on the right shows such an example of such an SMS.

Freely translated, the content reads: [Ministry of Industry and Information Technology] Code for the verification: 373390. Your filing has been submitted, the link for the verification is: beian.miit.gov.cn, valid for 1 day [ICP recording of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology]

To carry out the SMS verification, simply visit the website of the MIIT. On the right side of their website, you will find a form with three fields, which have to be filled in as follows:

• In the first field, enter the code which was sent via SMS.
• In the second field, fill in the Chinese mobile number, to which the SMS was sent to.
• The third field expects the last six characters of the proof of identification (usually an ID card or passport) submitted with the application. This applies to both Chinese and German identity cards or passports.
  • It may be that the legal representative does not have a Chinese mobile number, and therefore a mobile number of a colleague in China has been submitted. In this case, the last six characters of the identity card or passport number of the legal representative must still be entered in the last field.

On the right, you can find an example of how to fill in the form.

After submitting the form by clicking the light blue button at the end of the form, you will receive one of the following three responses:

• 您的短信核验完成,请等待其他核验人进行短信核验。
  The SMS verification has been successful for this mobile number, but the second person (legal representative or the person responsible for the website) must still complete the verification.
  
  
  
• 您的短信核验已全部完成，该请求将提交管局审核。
  The SMS verification has been successfully completed and is now being further examined by the authorities. The ICP process will continue automatically, and you do not need to do anything else for now.
  
  
  
• 您的經信核验失败, 请您重新验证。
  SMS verification of this mobile number was not successful. Usually, this means that more than 24 hours have passed since you received the SMS and thus the code is no longer valid. If the code should still be valid, please check the data entered in the form. There may be an accidental typo or the wrong ID number (passport or identity card) was entered.
  

What can I do if I have not received a code by SMS?

Normally, the SMS are sent within a few minutes after the clerk starts the verification process. In some cases, it can take one to two hours for the SMS to arrive. If you still haven't received an SMS by then, you can manually request the SMS to be sent out again. To do this, visit the website of the MIIT and switch to the second tab in the form on the right-hand side.

The associated form consists of two fields and must be completed as follows:

• In the first field, enter the Chinese mobile number, which needs to be verified.
• In the second field, the last six characters of the proof of identification submitted with the application (usually an identity card or passport) must be entered.
  • It may be that the legal representative does not have a Chinese mobile number, and therefore a mobile number of a colleague in China has been submitted. In this case, the last six characters of the identity card or passport number of the legal representative must still be entered in the field.

After submitting the form, the SMS is resent to the specified mobile phone number. Please note, however, that manually requesting the SMS to be sent out again is only possible within 24 hours after the verification process has started. If the 24 hours have passed, you must submit the ICP application again.

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