Published by ChinaMNC · Daqingshan

China's Website Identity Labeling System: What Foreign Founders Should Know

A practical guide for foreign founders on China's official website identity labeling, certification periods, and evaluation scores, based on a government portal's published labeling record.

Why Website Identity Labeling Matters for Foreign Founders

Foreign founders setting up or operating a company in China will quickly encounter the country's system of official website identity labeling (标识管理). When a Chinese government body publishes a website, that site carries a formal electronic identity label issued through an administrative review process. Understanding how this system works gives foreign founders a useful reference point for judging which Chinese sites are official, how long certifications last, and what the published evaluation scores actually measure.

This article is based on a labeling record published for a provincial government portal. It is not about the portal's policy content; instead, it uses the record to explain the labeling structure itself, so foreign founders can read similar records with confidence.

Who Runs the Labeling System

The source record identifies two responsible bodies:

• Competent authority: the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部).
• Issuing body: the Internet Society of China (中国互联网协会).

These two names are worth remembering. When a Chinese website displays an electronic identity label, the label is tied to a review process overseen by the ministry and issued by the association. For foreign founders, this is a practical signal: the label is not self-declared by the website operator but comes through an external certification route.

What the Label Record Contains

The published record is organized around the institution behind the website and the certification details. The institution information in the source includes:

• Sponsoring organization: the provincial government (黑龙江省人民政府).
• Institution type: a Party and government body (党政机关).
• Website name: the provincial government portal.
• Website address: www.hlj.gov.cn/.
• Electronic label number: DZJG20260300003507PW.

The label number deserves attention. A unique identifier of this kind lets you match a website to its certification record. For foreign founders evaluating a Chinese counterparty or checking whether a site belongs to a government body, an electronic label number is a concrete detail to look for and verify.

Certification Periods and Inspection Schedule

According to the source, both the PC website label and the WAP (mobile) website label share the same certification validity:

• Validity period: two years.
• Certified period: 5 March 2026 to 4 March 2028.

The same two-year validity applies to the certificate certification. The source also lists scheduled periodic inspections (定期巡检), with inspection dates on 4 September 2026, 4 March 2027, and 4 September 2027. The recorded inspection result is "passed" (通过).

This is a useful pattern for foreign founders to note: certification is not a one-time event. It comes with a defined validity window and a recurring inspection schedule. When you rely on a website's label as evidence of official status, check whether the current date falls inside the certified period and whether inspections have been passed.

How the Evaluation Scores Are Structured

The record publishes separate evaluations for the PC website and the WAP website. Each evaluation covers accessibility for elderly users (适老化评价) and accessibility (无障碍评价), and each of those categories is broken into three scores: self-assessment, institutional assessment, and user assessment.

PC Website Scores

• Elderly-accessibility: self-assessment 100; institutional assessment 82; user assessment 80.
• Accessibility: self-assessment 100; institutional assessment 83; user assessment 84.

WAP Website Scores

• Elderly-accessibility: self-assessment 100; institutional assessment 83; user assessment 83.
• Accessibility: self-assessment 100; institutional assessment 80; user assessment 83.

Both the PC and WAP sites record an overall evaluation score of 85.8. The record also includes an effectiveness index (效能指数) for each, with completeness, reliability, and robustness each recorded at 100%.

For foreign founders, the lesson is about how to interpret such numbers. Self-assessment scores are submitted by the institution itself, while institutional and user assessments come from other parties. Reading the three scores together gives a more balanced picture than looking at the headline total alone.

Practical Takeaways for Foreign Founders

None of these details replace formal due diligence, but they offer a practical framework when you encounter a Chinese website during company registration, licensing, or partner checks:

• Look for the label and its number. An official site should display an electronic label tied to a unique identifier.
• Check the validity window. Labels here run for two years and are subject to scheduled inspections.
• Read the evaluation categories. Elderly-accessibility and accessibility scores are reported separately for PC and mobile sites.
• Distinguish self-assessment from external assessment. The record shows all three, and they can differ.
• Note the issuing chain. The ministry oversees the system, and the Internet Society of China issues the labels.

The record also notes that a stamped evaluation report on elderly-accessibility and accessibility is available for download. For founders who need to review a site's accessibility claims in detail, such documents are the kind of supporting material worth requesting.

Why This Matters When You Register and Operate

Foreign founders often interact with Chinese government portals for registration filings, permits, and compliance updates. Knowing that these portals carry formal identity labels, defined certification periods, and published evaluation scores helps you distinguish official channels from lookalike sites. It also helps you set expectations: a label is time-bound, and its status should be checked rather than assumed.

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

Foreign founders who need hands-on support with registering and operating a company in China can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp or WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535.