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A covered manufacturer must list preinstalled apps in the product instructions and show, in the instructions or on the outer packaging, how users can find detailed app information. The disclosed information includes the app name, function, uninstall method, developer, required permissions, and the content, purpose, method, and scope of personal-information collection and use.

The manufacturer and app provider may not use terminal functions unrelated to the service or send unlawful commercial messages. Collection or use of personal information, starting an app, or bundling another app requires clear notice and user consent under the provisions effective from 1 July 2017. Other privacy and app-service rules may impose additional requirements.

Do not assign every obligation to the device maker. An app-distribution platform must register provider, operator and developer identity and contact details; review and test apps; monitor and remove unlawful or malicious apps; disclose requested permissions and their purposes; and operate complaint handling. It must retain the distributed app and version, release time, function, purpose, MD5 checksum and server-access information for at least 60 days.

The five-month record period is narrower: it applies to a company that bills on behalf of a mobile app and covers user confirmation information and original billing data. It is not a general five-month retention rule for every manufacturer or app platform.

Start with the product's intended network connection and function. Telecom terminal equipment connects at the end of a public telecom network; radio communication equipment connects to that network by radio; interconnection equipment supports interconnection between different operators' networks or different telecom-service networks. Then match the exact finished equipment name to MIIT's current directory.

Do not rely on an old directory extract. Since 1 March 2023, MIIT no longer accepts new permit applications for 11 types: fixed telephone terminals, cordless telephone terminals, group telephones, fax machines, modems including cards, radio pagers, narrowband ISDN terminals, multimedia terminals accessing mobile networks, frame-relay switches, ATM switches and call-centre equipment. Their manufacturers instead have standards-disclosure and quarterly new-product reporting duties under the reform notice.

A covered model needs MIIT approval before it is connected to a public telecom network or sold in China. The ordinary result is a network access permit. New telecom equipment that is regulated but lacks a formal national or industry standard may follow the network trial approval route; the 2023 reform gives that approval a two-year validity period.

The application file includes Chinese application and corporate records, quality and after-sales evidence, a technical product description, and an accepted test report or product certificate. Wireless communication equipment, interconnection equipment and new telecom equipment also require a technical plan and at least three months of network-trial evidence. MIIT may use expert review for those categories.

For network access, identify the public-network connection and match the finished product to MIIT's current equipment directory. A permit or trial approval belongs to the listed telecom model, not automatically to every device containing an approved communications module.

For radio equipment, identify every transmitting function, frequency range, power, antenna and intended use. Radio transmitting equipment generally needs model approval unless a specific rule applies, such as a device that both appears in and complies with the MIIT micro-power short-range equipment catalogue. That exception does not remove product-quality, interference, instruction or other regulatory duties.

A radio model approval addresses the equipment design. A radio station licence addresses setting up and using a station in a particular deployment. Under the 2021 rules for the 2400MHz and 5800MHz bands, a station licence is required for a wireless LAN access point, broadband wireless access centre station or point-to-point station only when it is outdoors and exceeds the stated equivalent isotropically radiated power threshold: more than 20 dBm at 2400MHz or more than 30 dBm at 5800MHz.

Other equipment in the 2400MHz, 5100MHz and 5800MHz bands does not need a station licence under that notice, but it still must meet the applicable technical and use rules. The 5100MHz band is indoor-only, excluding use in automobiles, and stations using it must remain more than 3 km from lawful same-band satellite earth stations.

The 2400MHz band supports broadband wireless access including WLAN, Bluetooth and point-to-point links. The 5100MHz band supports broadband wireless access but is limited to indoor use and excludes use inside automobiles. The 5800MHz band supports broadband wireless access, point-to-point links and electronic toll collection. No station or device has exclusive use of these shared bands.

For equipment in these bands, the RF unit and antenna must be integrated or designed and produced with synchronized matching. Users may not substitute another antenna or add an RF power amplifier. Equipment generally needs radio transmitting equipment model approval, except qualifying micro-power short-range equipment governed by MIIT Announcement 2019 No. 52.

A wireless LAN access point, broadband wireless access centre station or point-to-point station needs a provincial radio station licence only when it is outdoors and its EIRP is more than 20 dBm in 2400MHz or more than 30 dBm in 5800MHz. Other equipment and stations in the three bands do not need a station licence under this notice. A 5100MHz station must remain more than 3 km from a lawfully used same-band satellite radionavigation or fixed-satellite earth station operating in the space-to-Earth direction.

The technical transition is now over for new applications. Before 15 October 2023, equipment meeting the former rules but not the new technical requirements could still apply for model approval or an extension under the former rules. The official interpretation says equipment already put into use could remain in use until scrapped, and explains that a model approval's validity controls production, import, domestic sale and use rather than an end user's possession period.

Use the current equipment-directory entry to confirm the product name, applicable standards, required test scope and whether expert review applies. Do this before commissioning tests because a marketing name or radio module approval does not establish the finished product's network-access category.

All application materials must be in Chinese. A certificate or licence originally issued in another language needs a Chinese translation. Applications are submitted online through the MIIT network-access system; if the applicant does not use an electronic signature, the signed and sealed paper application form must reach MIIT by the time the decision is collected.

Retain the submitted version of every document, the online receipt, any correction request and response, expert-review materials when MIIT uses that process, the decision, and the final licence or trial approval. The statutory service guide states a 60-day decision period after receipt of an application, with expert review taking up to 45 days outside that period. MIIT's 2023 reform separately states a 15-working-day administrative commitment after acceptance, except where a lawful reason prevents it; plan around the official case status rather than treating either period as a guaranteed launch date.

After approval, keep the commercial product consistent with the approved model. Record the new network-access mark design and placement, licence number and validity, associated product data, and any modification or manufacturer change. Since 1 March 2023, a new or changed contract manufacturer and a technical or appearance change that does not alter main functions or core components can be filed online without new testing or a new permit; a change to information shown on the licence follows the licence-change process.