China App Launch · WeChat · iOS · Android OEM
Apps for China. Not another store listing, a different set of rules
Shipping the binary is the easy part. Mainland China also needs ICP and App filings, software copyright, mainland hosting, a WeChat Mini Program, Apple China and a stack of OEM Android stores.
We run that chain end to end: product, registrations, infrastructure and the release in every storefront.
- 10+stores instead of a single Google Play
- ICP+site, domains, app and mini program filings
- CNhosting, payments, support and data inside the PRC
- 1team for product, compliance and release
China is not a localization pass, it is a different infrastructure market
A Western release is App Store and Google Play, Firebase, Stripe, one CI. A China release has no Google services, no single Android store, a mandatory mainland origin for the backend, and without an ICP number the stores will not take the build.
What breaks if you ship the usual way
- Google Play is effectively unavailable to users in mainland China.
- A Western backend is slow or blocked by the Great Firewall.
- Firebase, Google Login, Stripe and most analytics stacks cannot be used.
- Without ICP and App filings Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo and WeChat will not go live.
- A foreign entity cannot complete part of the registrations on its own.
What launched in China actually means
- iOS on the Apple App Store China with a valid filing number.
- Android across several OEM stores, not a single storefront.
- A WeChat Mini Program as its own product, cabinet and filing.
- Domains with ICP and servers in Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen.
- WeChat Pay and Alipay, Chinese-language support and a local privacy stack.
One product, many storefronts
Users in China almost never install from a single place. Distribution here is a store portfolio plus the WeChat super-app.
- 01
WeChat Mini Program
The default entry for many services: no install, inside WeChat. You need a Chinese entity or partner, a separate mini-program filing, ICP on the backend domains, a working mainland phone number and PRC hosting. This is not a webview of your site.
- 02
Apple App Store China
A separate storefront. A mainland listing needs Simplified Chinese, a reachable local backend, a privacy pack and an App ICP number. Games and several categories also need industry licences.
- 03
Android OEM stores
There is no single store. Each channel has its own developer account, entity check, binary and review. Without an App filing the submit button is often not even shown.
- Huawei AppGallery
- Xiaomi GetApps
- OPPO
- vivo
- HONOR
- Tencent MyApp
- Samsung Galaxy Store
- Baidu / 360
Compliance comes before code
In China the release is gated by registrations, not by the last sprint. You cannot bolt them on later: stores and WeChat check the numbers before publishing.
- ICP filing 备案
- Baseline registration of the site and domains with MIIT. Without it mainland hosting will not hand over a production domain, and the mini program and the app will fail platform filing. It is filed by a Chinese entity through a provider such as Alibaba Cloud.
- App filing 备案
- A separate registration of the app or mini program itself. Since 2023-2024 Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, MyApp and WeChat require the number before they accept a build. It is not the same as website ICP.
- Software copyright 软著
- A software copyright certificate. Some Android stores will not even review an account without it. It usually takes longer than ICP, so it starts in parallel with development rather than after it.
- EDI, MSP and industry licences
- Commerce, payments, content, games, health, finance or education usually need extra permits after ICP. A foreign company almost always closes those through a local partner or a WFOE.
- Data and infrastructure
- Production in a mainland region, often Alibaba Shanghai, backups in the same jurisdiction, CI/CD that survives the Great Firewall, and corporate mail and support that Chinese platforms accept. Western Git plus Western hosting is not an architecture for a user in Shenzhen.
What we take on
Not a screen mockup and an IPA handed over. We cover the product, the legal stack and the operations of a China launch.
- 01
Launch map
Which stores your traffic actually needs, whether a Mini Program belongs in wave one, which licences the category requires, and where the entity and the hosting should sit.
- 02
Product for China
iOS, Android and WeChat: Simplified Chinese, local SDKs, WeChat Login and Pay, no Google stack, separate builds for the OEM stores.
- 03
Registrations
Domain ICP, App filing, software copyright, and accounts with Apple China, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, HONOR, MyApp and WeChat. We run the document pack, not a link to the MIIT portal.
- 04
Infrastructure
Mainland production, staging, release pipelines, backups, monitoring and mail that live in the same jurisdiction as the users.
- 05
Review and ASO
Chinese store materials, privacy policy, content checks and resubmits: every store has its own timelines and rejection reasons.
- 06
After launch
Build updates, account renewals, ICP changes for new domains, and reaction to new MIIT and store rules.
Other markets too
We also ship apps outside China. China is simply the hardest and the most interesting
App Store, Google Play, web, bots and ordinary mobile products for other countries are regular work for us. But no Western release asks at once for a dozen storefronts, mainland hosting, a pack of government numbers and a super-app the market will not open without. That is why the accent stays on China: a team that can ship there can ship anywhere.
Talk about a China launch
Get in touch if you are:
- taking an existing app to mainland China;
- starting a new product for WeChat, iOS or Android in the PRC;
- stuck on ICP, App filing or software copyright;
- getting rejections from Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo or Apple China;
- moving the backend and the data into a mainland cloud;
- building an app for another market and want one team for the whole cycle.
Describe the product and the target market. After a first assessment we come back with a launch map: which storefronts you need, which registrations are mandatory and in what order to close them.